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I have two comments: 1.) Moneyball made it look like the scouts ruined Billy Beane's life, but the reality is much more nuanced. His playing career didn't go w

by hluska 9y ago

I have two comments: 1.) Moneyball made it look like the scouts ruined Billy Beane's life, but the reality is much more nuanced. His playing career didn't go well and when he was in AA, he started seriously doubting himself. But, when his career ended, he started off as an Oakland A's scout. 25 years later, after a great run as General Manager, he was named the A's Executive Vice President. The point of all this is that in retrospect, the scouts who projected him to become a superstar weren't entirely wrong - he has an excellent mind for baseball, but he couldn't make the physical/mental adjustments required to succeed against tough opponents. I'd suspect that your issue may be similar - you clearly have an excellent mind for code, but perhaps you need to make a few adjustments. I think it's also important to note that as Beane's confidence wavered, it got harder for him to make the adjustments that he needed. 2.) How are you doing? When I read this over, I was actually rather worried about you. You sound like you're taking on a lot of life right now and money woes don't help. Are you okay? The bottom line is that you sound very intelligent. I believe in you and in your ability to figure this out. Good luck and be safe!

noisefridge 9y ago
Thank you for your kind responses. 1) I know the movie is a fictionalization. I should have said, the “Billy Beane character”. But I see your point. Reality is more complex than one person being right for a role, and another person being wrong. There are many variables and a smart manager (or a smart person managing their career) can and should make changes. I am not sure what those changes are. It might surprise you but I’m not a young developer at all. I have never found anyone, coach or therapist or manager, who seems to have an answer. 2) It’s a stressful time but I’m okay. I have multiple job offers. I’m considering not taking the one with the highest salary. However, I have some major debts right now and as stated above, I’m not young and I need to think about retirement too.
- guitarbill 9y ago
  > It might surprise you but I’m not a young developer at all Have you considered becoming a team leader/scrum master/whatever it's called nowadays? I slipped into that role by accident, but found it very fulfilling. I saw my role as shielding my devs from mgmt, so they could deliver, which is all management wants at the end of the day. You still need to be technical, participate in design, do code reviews, maybe do a bit of coding etc, but you aren't slogging it in the trenches/doing the grunt work. You'll have to do more planning, sizing items, distributing work, but that also takes dev skill and dev knowledge. Give it a try if you can. Worst case you can say it isn't for you, and you don't seem to have a problem finding a job. Best case, you might become a great team leader (or even manager if you want to go even less technical), and make a difference for the devs who'll be in a similar situation like yours once the novelty wears off. Team leaders can make huge changes to process, if you can justify them with e.g. hours of engineering saved. Best of luck to you. I know what it feels like when you think you're trapped in one career path because you happen to be good at it, and it's horrible.

by hluska 9y ago

noisefridge 9y ago

Thank you for your kind responses. 1) I know the movie is a fictionalization. I should have said, the “Billy Beane character”. But I see your point. Reality is more complex than one person being right for a role, and another person being wrong. There are many variables and a smart manager (or a smart person managing their career) can and should make changes. I am not sure what those changes are. It might surprise you but I’m not a young developer at all. I have never found anyone, coach or therapist or manager, who seems to have an answer. 2) It’s a stressful time but I’m okay. I have multiple job offers. I’m considering not taking the one with the highest salary. However, I have some major debts right now and as stated above, I’m not young and I need to think about retirement too.

guitarbill 9y ago
> It might surprise you but I’m not a young developer at all Have you considered becoming a team leader/scrum master/whatever it's called nowadays? I slipped into that role by accident, but found it very fulfilling. I saw my role as shielding my devs from mgmt, so they could deliver, which is all management wants at the end of the day. You still need to be technical, participate in design, do code reviews, maybe do a bit of coding etc, but you aren't slogging it in the trenches/doing the grunt work. You'll have to do more planning, sizing items, distributing work, but that also takes dev skill and dev knowledge. Give it a try if you can. Worst case you can say it isn't for you, and you don't seem to have a problem finding a job. Best case, you might become a great team leader (or even manager if you want to go even less technical), and make a difference for the devs who'll be in a similar situation like yours once the novelty wears off. Team leaders can make huge changes to process, if you can justify them with e.g. hours of engineering saved. Best of luck to you. I know what it feels like when you think you're trapped in one career path because you happen to be good at it, and it's horrible.