Kilojoules Per Hour (Intensity Mindset)

Maximize output per unit of time instead of extending hours

Farhan Thawar
How Shopify builds a high-intensity culture

Kilojoules Per Hour (Intensity Mindset)

"Everyone says, 'Oh yeah, work hard and do more hours when you're young, whatever.' I'm like, 'What if you just did more per minute?'" - Farhan Thawar

What It Is

One hour is one hour—the same amount of time passes for everyone. The variable isn't how many hours you work, but how many "kilojoules" (units of productive work) you expend within each hour.

Instead of expanding your workday to 12 hours (and filling it with foosball, coffee breaks, and distraction), compress maximum output into a focused 8-hour day. This creates extraordinary outcomes without requiring more time—and leaves room for life outside work.

This is the fundamental principle behind Shopify's high-intensity engineering culture: intensity per hour, not hours per week.

How It Works

The Intensity Equation:

  • Same time × higher intensity = more output
  • 8 focused hours > 12 distracted hours
  • The throughput limiter isn't time—it's focus and skill

Creating Intensity:

  • Weekly check-ins (Parkinson's law: whatever time you allot is the time it takes)
  • Pair programming (can't check Twitter when someone's watching)
  • Regular demos and reviews (creates accountability)
  • Clear deadlines and expectations

The Skill Component: Really good people can output high-quality work quickly. There's a time variance between "good" and "extremely good" people that most don't consider:

  • Extremely good: high-quality output in one hour
  • Good: same quality might take 2-3x longer
  • Quality doesn't have to drop when speed increases

How to Apply It

  1. Measure time in meetings, not just output - Track how many hours ICs spend in meetings per week. Shopify gets this down to ~3 hours/week for individual contributors.

  2. Use pair programming strategically - Two people on one computer can't multitask or get distracted. It's exhausting but produces intense focused output.

  3. Create check-in rhythms - Weekly updates, six-week reviews. The regular cadence creates urgency and surfaces blockers early.

  4. Eliminate context switching - Move announcements out of Slack into async tools. Protect maker time aggressively.

  5. Move fast on decisions - If something takes most companies six months (like a reorg), ask whether it could happen in a week or two. Parkinson's law works both ways.

What Intensity Is NOT

  • Working 80-hour weeks (that's extending time, not increasing intensity)
  • Rushing and producing low-quality output
  • Creating stressful, unsustainable environments
  • Eliminating breaks and recovery time

Shopify's Intensity Tools

  • GSD (Get Shit Done) - Weekly updates to the whole company
  • Pair programming - 4-8 hours per week in focused pairing
  • Six-week reviews - Teams present roadmaps and progress to leadership
  • Delete code culture - Less code = faster development
  • Meetingageddon - Annual deletion of all recurring meetings

Source

  • Guest: Farhan Thawar
  • Episode: "How Shopify builds a high-intensity culture"
  • Key Discussion: (00:19:20 - 00:22:07) - The kilojoules per hour philosophy
  • YouTube: Watch on YouTube

Related Frameworks

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