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Dealing With A Project's Complexity In A Changing Environment — Anita Jaszewska

Anita Jaszewska's wroclove.rb 2022 talk applies the Kübler-Ross grief model and the Lippitt-Knoster change-management matrix to software engineering: every business change breaks our comfort zone and triggers a mini emotional roller coaster, and naming the missing element (vision, skills, motivation, resources, action plan) from the emotion you feel (confusion, anxiety, resistance, frustration, false start) lets you identify and fix it. Practical tools: speak up, use I-statements and questions, frame things as risks with proposed solutions, use estimation as a communication tool with generous padding, write incentive lists and action plans by hand, and remember tech is easy — it's the people who are hard.

Model

claude-opus-4-7

Ingestion

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cached: 143,599
cache write: 9,862

Output tokens

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Duration

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Cost

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Read set (nodes/edges)

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Nodes (23)

update Anita Jaszewska person

attrs (empty) → {"role" => "Engineering Manager", "background" => "backend developer, psychologist"}

description Conference speaker. → Engineering manager at Jobandtalent who previously worked ~8 years as a backend developer before joining the company ...

short_description Conference speaker. → Engineering manager and psychologist; speaks on change management in tech.

update Dealing With A Project's Complexity In A Changing Environment talk

attrs {"type" => "talk"} → {"type" => "talk", "alt_title" => "eat sleep cows repeat"}

description Talk at wroclove.rb 2022. → Anita Jaszewska's wroclove.rb 2022 talk applying the Kübler-Ross five stages of grief and the organizational change c...

short_description Talk at wroclove.rb 2022. → Psychology-informed talk on handling constant change as an engineering team.

create Jobandtalent company

kind (empty) → company

name (empty) → Jobandtalent

slug (empty) → jobandtalent

attrs (empty) → {"industry" => "staffing / workforce platform", "annual_revenue" => "~€2.5B"}

description (empty) → Company where Anita Jaszewska works as engineering manager of two teams. At the time of the talk the company had annu...

short_description (empty) → Large staffing / workforce-as-a-service platform; employer of Anita Jaszewska.

create Elisabeth Kübler-Ross person

kind (empty) → person

name (empty) → Elisabeth Kübler-Ross

slug (empty) → elisabeth-kubler-ross

description (empty) → Doctor who in 1969 created the five-stages-of-grief model based on work with patients dealing with terminal illness. ...

short_description (empty) → Psychiatrist who formulated the five stages of grief in 1969.

create Five Stages of Grief concept

kind (empty) → concept

name (empty) → Five Stages of Grief

slug (empty) → five-stages-of-grief

attrs (empty) → {"year" => "1969", "category" => "methodology"}

description (empty) → Model created by Dr Elisabeth Kübler-Ross in 1969 from work with terminally ill patients. Describes typical reactions...

short_description (empty) → Denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance — response to any loss.

create Change Curve concept

kind (empty) → concept

name (empty) → Change Curve

slug (empty) → change-curve

attrs (empty) → {"category" => "methodology"}

description (empty) → Organizational-change model derived from the Kübler-Ross grief model. Describes a typical response to change as shock...

short_description (empty) → Model of people's motivation through an organizational change over time.

create Lippitt-Knoster Model for Managing Complex Change concept

kind (empty) → concept

name (empty) → Lippitt-Knoster Model for Managing Complex Change

slug (empty) → lippitt-knoster-model-for-managing-complex-change

attrs (empty) → {"category" => "methodology"}

description (empty) → Change-management model listing five elements required for a complex organizational change to go smoothly: vision, sk...

short_description (empty) → Vision + skills + motivation + resources + action plan needed for smooth change.

create Comfort Zone concept

kind (empty) → concept

name (empty) → Comfort Zone

slug (empty) → comfort-zone

attrs (empty) → {"category" => "concept"}

description (empty) → The 'comfort box' we build around known projects and routines. Once built, it lets us automate behaviors and focus on...

short_description (empty) → The automated, known space around a developer that business change disrupts.

create Imposter Syndrome concept

kind (empty) → concept

name (empty) → Imposter Syndrome

slug (empty) → imposter-syndrome

attrs (empty) → {"category" => "concept"}

description (empty) → Anita warns that the 'anxiety' signal in the Knoster matrix may really be about confidence rather than actual missing...

short_description (empty) → Feeling unqualified despite sufficient skill; confused with lacking skills.

create Intrinsic vs Extrinsic Motivation concept

kind (empty) → concept

name (empty) → Intrinsic vs Extrinsic Motivation

slug (empty) → intrinsic-vs-extrinsic-motivation

attrs (empty) → {"category" => "concept"}

description (empty) → Two types of motivation Anita distinguishes: internal (doing things because they feel amazing in themselves — the swe...

short_description (empty) → Internal 'want to' motivation vs external incentives like money or Prestige.

create I-Statements concept

kind (empty) → concept

name (empty) → I-Statements

slug (empty) → i-statements

attrs (empty) → {"category" => "practice"}

description (empty) → Communication technique Anita recommends as one of three starter tools: phrase things as 'I don't feel comfortable wi...

short_description (empty) → Communication technique of starting with 'I' to express feelings without blame.

create Risk-Framed Communication concept

kind (empty) → concept

name (empty) → Risk-Framed Communication

slug (empty) → risk-framed-communication

attrs (empty) → {"category" => "practice"}

description (empty) → Third of Anita's communication tips, aimed especially at speaking with business. Structure: 'If we don't implement X ...

short_description (empty) → Communicating concerns to business as risks plus proposed solutions.

create Estimation as a Communication Tool concept

kind (empty) → concept

name (empty) → Estimation as a Communication Tool

slug (empty) → estimation-as-a-communication-tool

attrs (empty) → {"category" => "practice"}

description (empty) → Anita's framing of estimation: it's the one communication form that doesn't require forming full sentences about feel...

short_description (empty) → Using time estimates to surface resource needs without discussing emotions.

create Handwritten Incentive List and Action Plan concept

kind (empty) → concept

name (empty) → Handwritten Incentive List and Action Plan

slug (empty) → handwritten-incentive-list-and-action-plan

attrs (empty) → {"category" => "practice"}

description (empty) → Anita's recommendation, backed by the claim that handwriting and typing use different parts of the brain: handwriting...

short_description (empty) → Using pen and paper to boost creativity, memory, and motivation.

create Fundamental Attribution Error concept

kind (empty) → concept

name (empty) → Fundamental Attribution Error

slug (empty) → fundamental-attribution-error

attrs (empty) → {"category" => "concept"}

description (empty) → Common psychological mistake Anita cites in Q&A: when we miss a deadline we attribute it to external circumstances (s...

short_description (empty) → Blaming others' failures on character but our own on circumstances.

create Tech is Easy, People Are Not takeaway

kind (empty) → takeaway

name (empty) → Tech is Easy, People Are Not

slug (empty) → tech-is-easy-people-are-not

attrs (empty) → {"type" => "insight"}

description (empty) → Anita's framing: tech is easy, predictable and rational — that's the easy part of the job. Tech is built by people, a...

short_description (empty) → Tech is predictable and rational; people are neither.

create Our Work Is About Business Value, Not Code takeaway

kind (empty) → takeaway

name (empty) → Our Work Is About Business Value, Not Code

slug (empty) → our-work-is-about-business-value-not-code

attrs (empty) → {"type" => "insight"}

description (empty) → Anita's reframing: for ~99–100% of programmers the most important thing is clean code, but our work is actually about...

short_description (empty) → Almost nobody in business cares about code — they want problems solved.

create Acknowledge and Name Your Emotion takeaway

kind (empty) → takeaway

name (empty) → Acknowledge and Name Your Emotion

slug (empty) → acknowledge-and-name-your-emotion

attrs (empty) → {"type" => "recommendation"}

description (empty) → Anita's core practical takeaway. Even if it sounds like new-age nonsense to rational brains, really noticing and nami...

short_description (empty) → Naming the emotion you feel makes it fade faster and reveals what is missing.

create Pad Your Estimates takeaway

kind (empty) → takeaway

name (empty) → Pad Your Estimates

slug (empty) → pad-your-estimates

attrs (empty) → {"type" => "recommendation"}

description (empty) → Anita's estimation advice: because business treats estimates as deadlines and downstream plans depend on them, always...

short_description (empty) → Double or triple raw estimates; deliver later but on time.

create Senior Developers Should Say 'I Don't Know' takeaway

kind (empty) → takeaway

name (empty) → Senior Developers Should Say 'I Don't Know'

slug (empty) → senior-developers-should-say-i-don-t-know

attrs (empty) → {"type" => "insight"}

description (empty) → Anita's counterintuitive point on anxiety/imposter syndrome: speaking up with 'I don't know how to do this' is expect...

short_description (empty) → Admitting lack of knowledge builds, not hurts, senior reputation.

create Keep Calm and Carry On — It's Just a Job takeaway

kind (empty) → takeaway

name (empty) → Keep Calm and Carry On — It's Just a Job

slug (empty) → keep-calm-and-carry-on-it-s-just-a-job

attrs (empty) → {"type" => "recommendation"}

description (empty) → Anita's closing line: when everything falls apart and you really don't know what to do, keep calm and carry on, becau...

short_description (empty) → When everything falls apart, remember it's just a job.

create Phrases to avoid in code review question

kind (empty) → question

name (empty) → Phrases to avoid in code review

slug (empty) → phrases-to-avoid-in-code-review

attrs (empty) → {"answer_summary" => "No ready list; key insight is to avoid the fundamental attribution error and to separate I-stat...

description (empty) → Audience member notes they often give reviews using 'I am afraid that something will happen', which is close to 'ther...

short_description (empty) → Q&A on wording code-review feedback more professionally.

create Distinguishing anxiety from frustration on one-on-ones question

kind (empty) → question

name (empty) → Distinguishing anxiety from frustration on one-on-ones

slug (empty) → distinguishing-anxiety-from-frustration-on-one-on-ones

attrs (empty) → {"answer_summary" => "Locate the emotion in the body — anxiety in the chest, anger in the hands, frustration in the b...

description (empty) → Former engineering manager asks how to tell emotions like anxiety and frustration apart on one-on-ones, since they fe...

short_description (empty) → Q&A on how to identify elusive emotions when using the Knoster matrix.

Edges (32)

update Anita Jaszewska → authored → Dealing With A Project's Complexity In A Changing Environment

context (empty) → Anita delivered this talk at wroclove.rb 2022.

update Dealing With A Project's Complexity In A Changing Environment → presented_at → wroclove.rb 2022

context (empty) → Talk given at the wroclove.rb 2022 conference.

create Anita Jaszewska → works_at → Jobandtalent

attrs (empty) → {"role" => "Engineering Manager"}

context (empty) → Joined Jobandtalent two years before the talk; now engineering manager of two teams.

relation (empty) → works_at

source_node_id (empty) → 711b4830-c9f4-48e0-bdad-ef3f4cb73039

target_node_id (empty) → 1b35f41d-44fc-45a0-8f8d-2325ccbd1b74

create Elisabeth Kübler-Ross → authored → Five Stages of Grief

attrs (empty) → {"year" => "1969"}

context (empty) → Created the model in 1969 based on work with terminally ill patients.

relation (empty) → authored

source_node_id (empty) → 5b2753b7-11d5-4629-a38f-842702909f87

target_node_id (empty) → 441f64ee-3c40-4045-8b01-9f2a38d39eea

create Change Curve → related_to → Five Stages of Grief

context (empty) → The organizational change curve is derived from and extends the Kübler-Ross grief model.

relation (empty) → related_to

source_node_id (empty) → ee4a21f6-589f-45f0-8d52-3a810c45a8f3

target_node_id (empty) → 441f64ee-3c40-4045-8b01-9f2a38d39eea

create Dealing With A Project's Complexity In A Changing Environment → about → Five Stages of Grief

context (empty) → Uses the five stages to frame developers' reactions to everyday losses and code-review/feature requests.

relation (empty) → about