# Sanity at Scale: The Hero Trap

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/better-ways-of-working-7120345/sanity-at-scale-the-hero-trap
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/better-ways-of-working-7120345/sanity-at-scale-the-hero-trap.md
Podcast: [Better Ways of Working](https://stenobird.com/podcast/better-ways-of-working-7120345)
Published: 2026-06-14T23:13:59+00:00
Episode link: https://api.riverside.com/hosting-analytics/media/1848f0abb9c63cdbaad6f1cafb63f787462e1c2f862d4a56b1bd74b7c191df03/eyJlcGlzb2RlSWQiOiI0YWY5YjcxOC01NTViLTQ3NjEtYjk2Yy1lOTYyYmJlZDhjZWQiLCJwb2RjYXN0SWQiOiJhYjFlYjgxZi1mMzkxLTQ0MDMtYTA3ZS03NjQ5M2VlMTNlZDAiLCJhY2NvdW50SWQiOiI2M2VmOTJlNGVhODY5ODRiNjhkODg4NTkiLCJwYXRoIjoibWVkaWEvY2xpcHMvNmEyZjMzZjg3Y2Q5NjgwMTg0YmZjNWMxL2JldHRlci13YXlzLW9mLXdvcmtpbmctY29tcG9zZXItMjAyNi02LTE1X18xLTYtMzIubXAzIn0=.mp3
Audio file: https://api.riverside.com/hosting-analytics/media/1848f0abb9c63cdbaad6f1cafb63f787462e1c2f862d4a56b1bd74b7c191df03/eyJlcGlzb2RlSWQiOiI0YWY5YjcxOC01NTViLTQ3NjEtYjk2Yy1lOTYyYmJlZDhjZWQiLCJwb2RjYXN0SWQiOiJhYjFlYjgxZi1mMzkxLTQ0MDMtYTA3ZS03NjQ5M2VlMTNlZDAiLCJhY2NvdW50SWQiOiI2M2VmOTJlNGVhODY5ODRiNjhkODg4NTkiLCJwYXRoIjoibWVkaWEvY2xpcHMvNmEyZjMzZjg3Y2Q5NjgwMTg0YmZjNWMxL2JldHRlci13YXlzLW9mLXdvcmtpbmctY29tcG9zZXItMjAyNi02LTE1X18xLTYtMzIubXAzIn0=.mp3
Processing state: not_requested
JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/better-ways-of-working-7120345/episodes/sanity-at-scale-the-hero-trap
Duration seconds: 253

## Resource

Every organization has them: the engineer who pulls an all-nighter to save the launch, the manager who bends the rules to get the deal done. We call them heroes and give them awards. But what if their heroics are actually masking the real problem? In this episode, Dave Borzillo breaks down the Hero Trap, the seductive feedback loop where individual sacrifice quietly prevents organizations from fixing what's actually broken, and why scaling sanely means learning to celebrate fire prevention instead of firefighting. This episode kicks off a series based on Dave's new book, Sanity at Scale , available now for Kindle pre-order , with the full book launching June 24th.

## Actions

- request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/better-ways-of-working-7120345/episodes/sanity-at-scale-the-hero-trap/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode.
- read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/better-ways-of-working-7120345/sanity-at-scale-the-hero-trap.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource.

A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed.

## Transcript

Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.