A career is a pie-eating contest & the prize for winning is more pie They say “no good deed goes unpunished.” When you complete projects or take ownership, it often results in additional work landing on your plate. Whether this is a positive outcome depends on your perspective. --- The metaphor: Pie-eating contest Taking ownership of a project and doing a good job can feel like a pie-eating contest where the prize for winning is more pie — meaning more similar work. Cynics relate this to the saying “no good deed goes unpunished,” as owning a task might lead to becoming the default person for related work, potentially causing overload. --- How much do you like pie? When you own a task, you send a clear signal to colleagues: You are capable of handling this kind of work. You might be interested in doing more of it. The outcome depends on your personal preference and enjoyment of this work. Loving the tasks makes getting “more pie” rewarding; if not, it can feel burdensome. --- Author Written by Jason Lengstorf, who creates tv content for developers at CodeTV and has over 20 years experience in web development. --- Additional links Work with Jason Stuff Jason Uses Email: jason@codetv.dev --- A pie-eating contest where the prize for winning is more pie. Credit: Dilyara Garifullina