I think it's curious why this isn't a two way street. Every "non-engineer" I ask "why don't you code", basically responds with "that is not of interest to me".
I'm seriously wondering why can't engineers dislike non-technical tasks, just like non-engineers dislike the technical ones... otherwise let's see everyone start coding and just do away with ALL roles. Everyone talks to the customer, everyone does some management, design, and product, and everyone codes. I see work that took years to master, writing complicated software, understanding systems within systems, only to have "non-engineers" take it for granted and assume that it is easy enough (since otherwise the engineer's time would be prioritized to do... engineering).
Yeah, this has always irked me. For example: Imagine a CEO at an earnings call saying something like, "Finance? Oh, I don't worry about finance. I leave that to the finance-y guys." It would (rightly so) be totally unacceptable, and you'd probably see that CEO fired post haste.
However, when some mid-level manager says, "Tech? Oh, I leave that to the tech-y guys", it is somehow acceptable. And even celebrated by certain types of mid-level functionaries.
Of course, this is a contrived example to make the point; I appreciate that. There are always questions about the depth of detail or commercial priorities. But even with that in mind, I always end up asking myself: How come it's ok for managers to be so dismissive of engineering?
What is even more bonkers is when you see this kind of thing in businesses that are fundamentally about digital technology, like banking. The number of times in my career that I have listened to a crusty old banker moan about "not being a technologist" when the very essence of modern banking is digital technologies doesn't bear thinking about.
One thing I would bet pretty heavily on is that of the best Engineers I have worked with over the years, there is virtually nothing on the other side of the table (finance, marketing, HR, etc) that they cannot _understand_ and engage meaningfully with (with the possible exception of sales, which is a discipline that is not straightforward to be good at). In contrast, I have rarely met anyone in a non-tech (business) field who could swap into and be even remotely competent as a software engineer.
For balance, I'm not suggesting that engineers are without blame any more than I am suggesting that managers and non-engineers are solely to blame. It's just to pick up on the point that it seems ok for this disdain to go in one direction but not the other.
I'm seriously wondering why can't engineers dislike non-technical tasks, just like non-engineers dislike the technical ones... otherwise let's see everyone start coding and just do away with ALL roles. Everyone talks to the customer, everyone does some management, design, and product, and everyone codes. I see work that took years to master, writing complicated software, understanding systems within systems, only to have "non-engineers" take it for granted and assume that it is easy enough (since otherwise the engineer's time would be prioritized to do... engineering).