I'd like to add that it also depends on the culture of the team. In team A, I challenged many ideas coming from the designer and the product owner. I was also

I'd like to add that it also depends on the culture of the team. In team A, I challenged many ideas coming from the designer and the product owner. I was also pushing back on technical decisions coming from the CTO. They always listened: I would change their minds a couple of times, sometimes I realized I was wrong. Only a few times could we not resolve the issue, but in the end I felt that they heard me and considered my point of view. In team B, I started out with the same mindset and was trying to challenge the validity of their product decisions. It was superficially acknowledged, but 98% time my input was basically ignored, and I felt like a party-pooper for pointing out contradictions and mistakes in their thinking. After months of trying to be listened to, I realized I'm here to be a coding monkey, they don't want my input neither on product, nor on technical problems. I learned to just nod and smile, cheer them on on their bad decisions, they felt great because they felt validated. It was also better for my happiness short term, as it's not a great feeling to feel that I'm bumming them out. Long term, I started looking for new positions, and since then quit already. I still feel it's a shame as the "idea" had great potential.