https://julienreszka.com/blog/myths/ Myth debunking from Julien Reszka's blog posts en https://julienreszka.com/blog/stop-start-continue-is-a-brainstorm-not-a-retrospective/ https://julienreszka.com/blog/stop-start-continue-is-a-brainstorm-not-a-retrospective/myth.png Thu, 04 Jun 2026 07:15:00 GMT Myth: Brainstorming with post-its surfaces the team's best thinking — Reality: Groups brainstorming together generate 20% fewer unique ideas than individuals working alone — the format suppresses the quality it claims to unlock Source: Mullen, Johnson & Salas, Psychological Bulletin, 1991 https://julienreszka.com/blog/refactoring-is-procrastination-in-a-lab-coat/ https://julienreszka.com/blog/refactoring-is-procrastination-in-a-lab-coat/myth.png Sun, 31 May 2026 18:33:00 GMT Myth: Refactoring is always a good investment in the codebase — Reality: Refactoring that doesn't measurably speed up development or eliminate critical bugs is an illusion of progress — it feels like work but ships nothing Source: CAST Research Labs, 2021 https://julienreszka.com/blog/they-re-required-to-tell-you-how-to-beat-them/ https://julienreszka.com/blog/they-re-required-to-tell-you-how-to-beat-them/myth.png Wed, 27 May 2026 12:17:00 GMT Myth: Disrupting a large company requires secrecy until you're ready to compete directly — Reality: Incumbents publish their own vulnerabilities every year in SEC filings — the insight is public; the execution is what most people skip Source: SEC Regulation S-K, Item 1A; Christensen, The Innovator's Dilemma, 1997 https://julienreszka.com/blog/solve-a-problem-people-admit-they-have/ https://julienreszka.com/blog/solve-a-problem-people-admit-they-have/myth.png Sat, 23 May 2026 14:31:00 GMT Myth: If a problem is real, people will pay to solve it regardless of stigma — Reality: If customers won't admit they have the problem, they won't recommend your solution — and word-of-mouth dies before it starts Source: CB Insights, 2021; Berger, Contagious, 2013 https://julienreszka.com/blog/your-product-should-make-the-buyer-look-good/ https://julienreszka.com/blog/your-product-should-make-the-buyer-look-good/myth.png Tue, 19 May 2026 09:47:00 GMT Myth: Quality speaks for itself — a good product doesn't need social signalling — Reality: Products that make buyers look good spread 2.4× faster — status is a distribution channel, not a vanity metric Source: Berger, Contagious, 2013 https://julienreszka.com/blog/build-the-referral-into-the-product/ https://julienreszka.com/blog/build-the-referral-into-the-product/myth.png Fri, 15 May 2026 07:33:00 GMT Myth: Good products spread on their own — great work doesn't need referral programmes — Reality: Dropbox grew 3,900% by designing the incentive to share — organic virality is rare; structured referrals are not Source: Drew Houston, Dropbox Blog, 2010 https://julienreszka.com/blog/if-you-can-t-describe-it-no-one-will-share-it/ https://julienreszka.com/blog/if-you-can-t-describe-it-no-one-will-share-it/myth.png Mon, 11 May 2026 13:12:00 GMT Myth: More information makes marketing more persuasive — Reality: The brain remembers what it can repeat — long, complex messages are forgotten; short, sticky ones spread Source: Miller, Psychological Review, 1956; Lant, 1985 https://julienreszka.com/blog/your-product-should-be-safe-to-recommend/ https://julienreszka.com/blog/your-product-should-be-safe-to-recommend/myth.png Thu, 07 May 2026 08:54:00 GMT Myth: Controversial products generate the most word-of-mouth — Reality: 83% of purchase decisions are influenced by trusted recommendations — and people only recommend things they're comfortable defending Source: Nielsen Global Trust in Advertising, 2015 https://julienreszka.com/blog/sticky-products-feel-personal/ https://julienreszka.com/blog/sticky-products-feel-personal/myth.png Sun, 03 May 2026 12:36:00 GMT Myth: Retention comes from habit loops and push notifications — Reality: The stickiest products feel like they know you — Netflix's algorithm drives 80% of what users watch, not search or the new releases section Source: Netflix Technology Blog https://julienreszka.com/blog/the-cheapest-feature-is-the-one-you-don-t-build/ https://julienreszka.com/blog/the-cheapest-feature-is-the-one-you-don-t-build/myth.png Wed, 29 Apr 2026 09:15:00 GMT Myth: More features make a product more valuable — Reality: 64% of software features are rarely or never used — each one you don't cut adds maintenance cost, complexity, and bugs with no return Source: Standish Group, Chaos Report https://julienreszka.com/blog/anxiety-is-making-you-dumber/ https://julienreszka.com/blog/anxiety-is-making-you-dumber/myth.png Sat, 25 Apr 2026 07:03:00 GMT Myth: Anxiety keeps you alert and on your toes — Reality: Chronic anxiety shrinks the prefrontal cortex — the seat of reasoning, planning, and judgment Source: Arnsten, Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 1998 https://julienreszka.com/blog/your-sleep-schedule-is-a-policy-document/ https://julienreszka.com/blog/your-sleep-schedule-is-a-policy-document/myth.png Tue, 21 Apr 2026 13:17:00 GMT Myth: Sleeping less is a sign of dedication and ambition — Reality: 17 hours awake produces the same cognitive impairment as a 0.05% blood alcohol level Source: Harrison & Horne, Journal of Experimental Psychology, 2000 https://julienreszka.com/blog/less-work-more-worry/ https://julienreszka.com/blog/less-work-more-worry/myth.png Fri, 17 Apr 2026 12:42:00 GMT Myth: Automation reduces workplace stress by removing tedious tasks — Reality: Global workplace stress has risen in parallel with automation — the anxiety shifts from tasks to existential job security Source: Gallup State of the Global Workplace, 2023 https://julienreszka.com/blog/the-better-the-autopilot-the-worse-the-pilot/ https://julienreszka.com/blog/the-better-the-autopilot-the-worse-the-pilot/myth.png Mon, 13 Apr 2026 11:09:00 GMT Myth: More reliable automation makes human operators safer — Reality: High-reliability systems breed complacency — operators lose manual skill and situational awareness precisely when they need them most Source: Parasuraman & Manzey, Human Factors, 2010 https://julienreszka.com/blog/automation-takes-the-easy-jobs-and-leaves-you-the-hard-ones/ https://julienreszka.com/blog/automation-takes-the-easy-jobs-and-leaves-you-the-hard-ones/myth.png Thu, 09 Apr 2026 10:31:00 GMT Myth: Automation frees workers for more rewarding, easier work — Reality: It filters out easy tasks — everything left in the queue is harder, more ambiguous, and higher-stakes than before Source: McKinsey Global Institute, 2017 https://julienreszka.com/blog/you-were-already-dependent-automation-makes-it-reliable/ https://julienreszka.com/blog/you-were-already-dependent-automation-makes-it-reliable/myth.png Sun, 05 Apr 2026 09:54:00 GMT Myth: Automation creates dangerous new dependencies you didn't have before — Reality: You were already dependent on humans who cancel, get sick, and have their own agenda — automation just makes the dependency predictable Source: AWS Shared Responsibility Model https://julienreszka.com/blog/the-future-of-work-is-getting-out-of-the-way/ https://julienreszka.com/blog/the-future-of-work-is-getting-out-of-the-way/myth.png Wed, 01 Apr 2026 07:23:00 GMT Myth: The future of work means working harder alongside smarter machines — Reality: The real job is designing systems that contain the damage when humans — inevitably — make mistakes Source: Swedish Transport Administration, Vision Zero https://julienreszka.com/blog/robots-create-more-jobs-than-they-kill/ https://julienreszka.com/blog/robots-create-more-jobs-than-they-kill/myth.png Fri, 27 Mar 2026 09:47:00 GMT Myth: Robots destroy more jobs than they create — Reality: Japan — the world's most roboticised major economy — has maintained one of the lowest unemployment rates in the G10 for decades Source: International Federation of Robotics https://julienreszka.com/blog/google-has-no-idea-if-your-page-is-good/ https://julienreszka.com/blog/google-has-no-idea-if-your-page-is-good/myth.png Mon, 23 Mar 2026 08:38:00 GMT Myth: Better content ranks higher on Google — Reality: Google ranks by backlinks, not quality — the most linked page wins regardless of accuracy or depth Source: Brin & Page, PageRank patent, 1998 https://julienreszka.com/blog/i-quit-posting-on-instagram-for-my-mental-health/ https://julienreszka.com/blog/i-quit-posting-on-instagram-for-my-mental-health/myth.png Thu, 19 Mar 2026 09:12:00 GMT Myth: Consistency and quality are rewarded — post more and you'll grow — Reality: Identical posts on the same platform can vary 120× in views — the outcome is noise, not a signal you can optimise Source: Author's data; Adam Mosseri admitted Instagram's own reach variance has 'more to do with user behavior than algorithmic changes' https://julienreszka.com/blog/build-with-what-s-already-there/ https://julienreszka.com/blog/build-with-what-s-already-there/myth.png Sun, 15 Mar 2026 10:23:00 GMT Myth: You need capital and infrastructure before you can start a business — Reality: Airbnb started by renting floor space they already owned — the asset existed; the business was recognising it had value to someone else Source: Brian Chesky, How Airbnb Was Founded https://julienreszka.com/blog/build-for-what-won-t-change/ https://julienreszka.com/blog/build-for-what-won-t-change/myth.png Wed, 11 Mar 2026 13:17:00 GMT Myth: Innovation means chasing what is new and changing — Reality: Amazon's biggest bets — low prices, vast selection, fast delivery — were made on needs that are identical today to what they were in 1994 Source: Jeff Bezos, Amazon Shareholder Letter, 2012 https://julienreszka.com/blog/delete-it-before-you-optimize-it/ https://julienreszka.com/blog/delete-it-before-you-optimize-it/myth.png Sat, 07 Mar 2026 09:44:00 GMT Myth: Optimization is the path to efficiency — Reality: The most common engineering mistake is optimizing something that should not exist — questioning the requirement is always step one Source: Elon Musk, Tesla Shareholder Meeting, 2021