The feeling of working with a deadline without the slowdown of project management can be exciting. What I have noticed at the company level is the output is wasted and the praise or prizes become political. Management thinks its a vacation for you and goes hard next week to catchup meanwhile you are burnt out.
It doesn't work because it's a fake scenario. When you work for a startup sometimes you end up in a real hackathon where you have to finish the product right before the biggest presentation in the companies life. Those are exciting times with a real outcome. That's the feeling a hackathon is trying to manufacture.
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The feeling of working with a deadline without the slowdown of project management can be exciting. What I have noticed at the company level is the output is wasted and the praise or prizes become political. Management thinks its a vacation for you and goes hard next week to catchup meanwhile you are burnt out.
It doesn't work because it's a fake scenario. When you work for a startup sometimes you end up in a real hackathon where you have to finish the product right before the biggest presentation in the companies life. Those are exciting times with a real outcome. That's the feeling a hackathon is trying to manufacture.