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If you're minimizing challenge for your software engineers, you're making worse engineers over time

by imbnwa 5y ago

ramesh31 5y ago
>If you're minimizing challenge for your software engineers, you're making worse engineers over time Or you're solving your current problems in the most efficient means possible, e.g. engineering. Minimizing one challenge frees mental processing power to worry about bigger issues. I couldn't care less how the memory paging in my OS works. I care about building features that users find valuable.
- imbnwa 5y ago
  Such a needlessly extreme example, sometimes it might mean just working on the backend after doing nothing but frontend for your career, sometimes it might mean not assigning a feature of a certain complexity to the person you know likely grasps it instantly and assigning it to someone who you're less sure about but wants to do more. It can be just as much about figuring out and cultivating the potential of your workforce and that can create greater efficiency over time. There are certainly opportunities where this can be accomplished, because if everything is mission critical, business itself is doing something wrong. The amount of opportunity and the nature of such will vary across businesses, and perhaps an engineer may need to go elsewhere to search out further challenge. Your statement that "Minimizing one challenge frees mental processing power to worry about bigger issues" presumes a level of uniformity.
edgyquant 5y ago
On the contrary, by not minimizing the challenges you are left with less productive engineers. The idea that tools etc should be written internally if hen they already exist is such a Byzantine way of looking at things. The only challenges an engineer should face should be the problem they’re trying to solve. If you’re building a SaaS you shouldn’t be worrying about rebuilding all the tools a project needs to reach conclusion.
eternityforest 5y ago
Yeah, but this isn't the Olympics. If the same people are producing better quality work with less stress... Sounds like you're doing something right even if they are technically not learning certain things that aren't relevant.

If you're minimizing challenge for your software engineers, you're making worse engineers over time

by imbnwa 5y ago

If you're minimizing challenge for your software engineers, you're making worse engineers over time

>If you're minimizing challenge for your software engineers, you're making worse engineers over time Or you're solving your current problems in the most efficient means possible, e.g. engineering. Minimizing one challenge frees mental processing power to worry about bigger issues. I couldn't care less how the memory paging in my OS works. I care about building features that users find valuable.

imbnwa 5y ago
Such a needlessly extreme example, sometimes it might mean just working on the backend after doing nothing but frontend for your career, sometimes it might mean not assigning a feature of a certain complexity to the person you know likely grasps it instantly and assigning it to someone who you're less sure about but wants to do more. It can be just as much about figuring out and cultivating the potential of your workforce and that can create greater efficiency over time. There are certainly opportunities where this can be accomplished, because if everything is mission critical, business itself is doing something wrong. The amount of opportunity and the nature of such will vary across businesses, and perhaps an engineer may need to go elsewhere to search out further challenge. Your statement that "Minimizing one challenge frees mental processing power to worry about bigger issues" presumes a level of uniformity.

edgyquant 5y ago

On the contrary, by not minimizing the challenges you are left with less productive engineers. The idea that tools etc should be written internally if hen they already exist is such a Byzantine way of looking at things. The only challenges an engineer should face should be the problem they’re trying to solve. If you’re building a SaaS you shouldn’t be worrying about rebuilding all the tools a project needs to reach conclusion.

eternityforest 5y ago

Yeah, but this isn't the Olympics. If the same people are producing better quality work with less stress... Sounds like you're doing something right even if they are technically not learning certain things that aren't relevant.