9. Breaking Free from the Input-Output Myth

In today’s society, many people fall into a common misconception—believing that the time and effort put into work should be directly proportional to one’s income. This was also the exact mindset I fell into early in my career.

This way of thinking once left me feeling frustrated and aggrieved at work. Thoughts like “Why does that person make more than me when I have a degree in XX?” or “I’ve written so much code, so why is my performance rating still mediocre?” would frequently cross my mind.

First, let’s explore why the belief that “effort must yield a proportional reward” develops in the first place. I believe there are two main factors:

• Schooling: Growing up, our primary evaluation metric was exams, ingraining a linear mindset that we carried straight into the workplace.
• Societal Conditioning: Everyone tells you that hard work leads to success, equating effort directly with reward.

However, that is not how markets and economic systems actually work. Income is primarily determined by the value you create:

• How much tangible benefit you bring
• The scale and importance of the problems you solve
• How easily replaceable you are
• Whether your work has the potential to scale

What we were taught growing up is fundamentally different from how the market operates in reality. To break free from the frustration of an effort-to-reward mismatch, we need to shift our mindset.

First and foremost, we should focus on creating more value rather than measuring output purely by our own time and effort. This includes expanding our influence—for instance, instead of merely finishing your assigned tasks, you can find ways to boost the productivity of the entire team.

I’ve had similar experiences in the past. For example, I introduced automated deployment, streamlining the whole process down to the push of a button. In another case, I implemented a file-upload mechanism allowing hardcoded copy to be modified and updated in real time via the admin dashboard, sparing engineers the hassle of changing code and redeploying.

The longer you stay in the workplace, the more you realize that many processes and tasks share similarities. Rather than being a developer who only does what’s assigned, you can choose working models that create leverage.

When I first entered the workforce, I often found myself spinning my wheels over trivial issues. I wrote heaps of code trying to improve existing workflows, only to feel demoralized when it didn’t get buy-in from the team. My manager even reminded me not to focus solely on code, as that easily leads to short-sightedness. Later, I changed my approach: I actively spoke up, engaged in discussions, sought alignment across the team, and focused on solving problems that truly mattered.

This earned me recognition from my manager and led to an opportunity as a Tech Lead. In this role, I communicated with product planners to deliver several key features together. I also proactively took the initiative to build a server from scratch, overhauling the landing page workflow so that product managers could achieve greater customization and improve SEO. These contributions led to a significant increase in my compensation.

Conclusion

Accept reality: this is simply how market mechanisms work. Rather than complaining about unfairness, it’s better to think about how to adapt and discover your competitive edge. Be open to experimenting with different working styles and behaviors, and don’t let a fixed mindset hold you back.

Once you understand the value you can provide, you don’t necessarily have to tie yourself to any single company. Instead, focus on leveraging your strengths and advancing along a track where you hold an advantage.

This is by no means an easy transition. Back then, I was just like anyone else—constantly feeling that my efforts went unnoticed and complaining about bad coworkers. But as long as you’re willing to shift your mindset, a whole new world awaits you.