I thought the same when starting my current job (small company co-owned by two software devs), but this has proven false for me. The biggest problem I have is

I thought the same when starting my current job (small company co-owned by two software devs), but this has proven false for me. The biggest problem I have is that, while both managers are OK software devs (but not great), anything I advocate for that is above their skill level is perceived to be “too complicated”, or “takes too long to do, let’s just get it done quickly for now”. So, instead of proper config files or method dispatching for client-specific behavior, we end up with if/else and switch statements with hard coded client primary keys. Then, when a huge bug comes along on a Friday at 5pm as a result of how we built the thing, I get to be the one to dig us out of the hole while my managers are busy “working on the next big feature” which will almost certainly be done just as poorly. So, conveniently, only myself and our customers ever get to experience the consequences of their decisions. And what can I do? I can fight to get my way, sometimes, on new features, but when “their way” becomes a problem, I can’t use it as an example to support my ideas or say “I told you so” without hurting feelings or going against the people signing my paycheck.