
Why senior engineers get nothing done - cmwelsh
https://swizec.com/blog/why-senior-engineers-get-nothing-done/
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nickm12
As a senior engineer, this hits home for me so hard.

I use the documentation hack all the time. Junior engineers are frequently
amazed by how much I know. My secret is that I know where the documentation is
and when I learn something, I add it to the docs. Half the time I answer a
question I have to look it up again in the docs.

My frustration is that most engineers seem allergic to updating docs. I think
this is some combination of (1) don't know docs exist (2) feel confident they
can write authoritatively (3) falsely believe that docs that aren't 100%
correct are useless (4) don't like to write or don't feel rewarded for
writing. For different engineers, it's a different combo, but the net result
is still that the docs don't get updated as much as they could if everyone
pitched in.

~~~
ausjke
I can't agree more, a to the point, updated document is the key.

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hinkley
The "create a Wiki page" suggestion is one I used for quite a while. You just
keep reminding people that some of the answers are written down out there, and
they only have to look. But try as I might, many people just won't
participate. Not sure why that is.

My suspicion is that it's part of an, "If I don't have to be involved then I'm
not special" fear, but I can't read people's minds.

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filereaper
I don't think the "force multiplier" aspect is what's in doubt here. Its that
most productivity metrics for senior developers over-emphasize shipping
software they wrote (i.e kloc written) not so much how Susan, Alice and Joe
were unblocked and shipped their commitments.

You're both acting as a people-manager unblocking and growing your team's
skills but only getting comped for aspects of an IC which you start to get
less and less time for.

I routinely see HR departments pathetically fail in recognizing this and end
up losing seasoned engineers cause let's face it, if you're worth your salt
you can switch companies easily and just do the IC work and get properly
comped for it.

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mharroun
Hate the title only because it sells itself way to short. The article talks
about a lot of things the senior engineer is getting done...

I hope to god he has a competent lead or manager who understands and
encourages they stay on point.

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satisfaction
In my life my perceived productivity drops when I'm assigned many projects,
each one takes more calendar days because I have to make progress on multiple
fronts, switching time, multiple more meetings with PMs and stakeholders per
week BUT due to my experience the end result is closer to what the
stakeholders have in mind and my projects run in production with fewer issues.
I've discussed this with my leadership and they understand and are fine with
longer timelines that result in higher quality work.

~~~
ausjke
wait until you're in an agile team, you will get a new assignment based on
"priorities" almost daily after your stand-up meeting, after a while everyone
will be burnt out, not by the raw workload but by the changing tech directions
constantly, a context-switch that is so frequently nobody got anything done,
and it is purely painful

