I’ve spent my career building products — at Evernote, Spirit Airlines, and now as a fractional CTO for a handful of startups who all want everything delivered yesterday. And here’s the truth I wish someone had told me early on: most of the worst technical decisions we make don’t come from lack of skill. They come from burnout.

In this talk, I’ll walk through the patterns I’ve seen again and again across engineering teams. The late-night patches that become permanent. The “I’ll refactor this later” debt that never gets paid down. The slow slide from thoughtful architecture into “ship it and pray.” We’ll talk about why it happens — the human side, not the project-management spreadsheet version.

Then I’ll walk through a practical framework I use with my own teams to break the cycle. Lightweight rituals that don’t feel like process theater. Communication patterns that help you push back without being “the blocker.” A way to spot burnout signals before you hit the point of no return. And a simple decision-making map that keeps quality high even when timelines are tight.

If you’ve ever found yourself staring at your screen at 2 a.m. thinking “Something’s not right,” this talk is for you.