I have my own sort of loose rules about this. I long ago came up with it, and it works for me, but maybe there are a few holes worth poking. Basically it goes

I have my own sort of loose rules about this. I long ago came up with it, and it works for me, but maybe there are a few holes worth poking. Basically it goes like this: There are no 'senior'/'middle'/'junior' level developers. There are _A, _B and _C. _A guys sit at the top. _B supports _A. _C support _A and _B, and .. other _C's. _A supports all _B's, all _C's, and of course.. all other _A's. The position is self-determined, i.e. up to the individual. Occasionally, when enough _A's, _B's and _C's serve together, they self-organise. Sometimes, you need to tweak a few things. For example, there is a kind of _A who doesn't want to work on things without a few multiples of _C around to clean up after him. This guy needs a _B. Then there are _B's who ignore _C's and just wanna work with _A's. This guy needs a better _A. And, also, a few _C's. And there are _C's who want to be _A's, while ignoring their duty to _B. This guy needs a few more _A's, and either becomes a _B, or an _A. (Or a _D, which is 'goes and does marketing stuff instead'.) Either way, there is another 'type' of developer, and this guy is an _X. He gets all the _A's and _B's and _C's happily playing together, executing on the plan. He can be an _A or a _B or a _C: he doesn't care, as long as things are executing.