
Ask HN: Have you seen a mediocre, stagnant developer become a “rockstar”? - ccajas
If it&#x27;s a programmer that started out okay but then stagnated for a long while, and then through some visible changes has recovered from stagnation and built a good reputation whose experience meet the expectations.<p>Whether it&#x27;s a co-worker you&#x27;ve had over the years or a peer that you&#x27;ve talked to and seen grown pretty well in experience, jobs, and reputation. What was your experience with them like? How did they improve?
======
PhilWright
There are relatively few 'rockstars' that perform at that level in every
position throughout their whole career. I have seen people struggle at a
company because they do not seem to fit into the culture/dev
processes/hierarchy that are excellent performers at another company when
everything gels for them. And also visa versa.

I think half of your performance is not your technical ability but the
environment you are in and how it suites you. Some like a free wheeling, high
pressure small company feel. Others prefer a structured large company where
they have a well defined set of tasks. Some developer take a few years to
figure out which is best for them.

------
smt88
I’ve seen many mediocre, stagnant devs become rockstars. They switched fields
to something they enjoyed more and was better suited to them.

Having a background in programming is helpful in lots of non-programming
career tracks.

~~~
ccajas
Oh I see, so they switch fields but not improve in the field they were
mediocre at. You haven't seen any programmers improve themselves without
leaving the field behind?

~~~
smt88
No, and what’s the point? Why struggle at something that isn’t a good fit?

