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I agree fixing knowledge holes is something I expect a senior engineer to own. Overall, I think what stands apart senior from junior engineers isn’t just the sk

I agree fixing knowledge holes is something I expect a senior engineer to own. Overall, I think what stands apart senior from junior engineers isn’t just the skill or the act of fixing the knowledge hole but - 1) having the right judgement 2) being a force multiplier Good judgement is important. For example, a knowledge hole could exist, but is it the right thing to be working on now given other knowledge holes or other problems? Is it something another person on the team could pick up while the senior engineer focuses more on another, more ambiguous problem? Being a force multiplier I think is critical. Yes your experience and expertise matters, but how well can you scale yourself? This can actually be very difficult and even demoralizing. When I first reached a senior level, one of the teams I was the lead on at the time had an issue where other engineers literally were not motivated. They don’t want to move on because it’s an easy environment but they don’t put in even 50%, and management was focused more on managing upwards than managing downwards. Heh some interesting lessons learned there.

mooreds 7y ago
> Being a force multiplier I think is critical. Totally agree. At some point you spend less time doing the work and more time unblocking other people, doing spikes and research, and coordinating across the organization. For someone who like to be in "flow", all of these can be frustrating.
- perl4ever 7y ago
  I got to a point where "actually working" seemed worthless because everything that determined the ultimate value of my work was a management/communication issue. My boss would tell me not to worry about that stuff, but it was demoralizing because I couldn't stand any longer to think about spending year after year doing technical stuff that had no positive, cumulative effect on the real world. I don't want to be a "boss" or have more power or prestige, but I've gotten to the point where the only problems I am really interested in are management problems because everything else is a waste of time if those aren't solved.
  - mooreds 7y ago
    "The Second Law of Consulting: No matter how it looks at first, it's always a people problem." - Gerald Weinberg ( https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Gerald_Weinberg https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Gerald_Weinberg )

mooreds 7y ago

> Being a force multiplier I think is critical. Totally agree. At some point you spend less time doing the work and more time unblocking other people, doing spikes and research, and coordinating across the organization. For someone who like to be in "flow", all of these can be frustrating.

perl4ever 7y ago
I got to a point where "actually working" seemed worthless because everything that determined the ultimate value of my work was a management/communication issue. My boss would tell me not to worry about that stuff, but it was demoralizing because I couldn't stand any longer to think about spending year after year doing technical stuff that had no positive, cumulative effect on the real world. I don't want to be a "boss" or have more power or prestige, but I've gotten to the point where the only problems I am really interested in are management problems because everything else is a waste of time if those aren't solved.
- mooreds 7y ago
  "The Second Law of Consulting: No matter how it looks at first, it's always a people problem." - Gerald Weinberg ( https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Gerald_Weinberg https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Gerald_Weinberg )