this was so many moons ago: I worked in an organization where I received a 'best contributor' award that year. Then my manager called me in to discuss a poten

this was so many moons ago: I worked in an organization where I received a 'best contributor' award that year. Then my manager called me in to discuss a potential large project in the business. I was to go and find out what "they" wanted. For many months I worked with all kinds of business entities, learning about the requirements and how they operated, and about the core mission of the company itself. I was still the developer for this new project but what I did was architecture, it turns out. I knew nothing about this field and I learned a whole lot while working with many teams creating an architecture that I can communicate. I did little coding and the company started hiring as the project took shape. It was a turning point in my career. I never stopped learning about the innards of coding, it was and is an essential know-how in whatever aspect of development one gets into.