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I think there's two stories intertwining here. One which you've zeroed in on is "don't require heroism". We have a lot of these stories already. (Unfortunately

I think there's two stories intertwining here. One which you've zeroed in on is "don't require heroism". We have a lot of these stories already. (Unfortunately also a lot of exciting stories of "heroism".) The more interesting one though, is that sometimes high-impact work is "just there" to be done, if you're looking. IMO this is also really what "hero" stories are about: something goes so wrong that either people are finally forced to either look for once, or forced to bring in someone who will look. As a senior engineer, for the past couple years I've tried to pitch parts of what I see "just there" intentionally, either before it becomes a crisis or just as a potential win. Sometimes people still don't see it; maybe they're stuck in "one year of experience, ten times" or sometimes they're just built out of stop energy. But the best way I've found to detect promising junior engineers who will benefit from mentorship is to find who does bite, and more often respond "what if" instead of "but".

jwatzman 4y ago
> The more interesting one though, is that sometimes high-impact work is "just there" to be done, if you're looking. Author here. Yes, this was exactly my point! > But the best way I've found to detect promising junior engineers who will benefit from mentorship is to find who does bite, and more often respond "what if" instead of "but". Indeed. I've mentored a bunch of otherwise-competent engineers trying to get to the next level, and my advice is similar: ask yourself "ok, now what's next". After doing the cool thing, there's inevitably half a dozen other things around it, and things might be obvious to you (as the now-expert in the cool thing) but not others.
- necovek 4y ago
  > Author here. Yes, this was exactly my point! Your original example shows you doing extra hours and long days to achieve this: if this was your point, the example is terrible. I do agree with high-impact work just being there, but finding the time to do it other than "on your own time" is where the tension is between management and engineers who have a different belief of what the highest priority is.
  - jwatzman 4y ago
    > if this was your point, the example is terrible. Yeah, I addressed this in another comment here. I attempted in the last section to separate the ideas of "I heroically dived in" and "I took an opportunity in front of me" -- you shouldn't go looking for heroics. This didn't quite get across, and I totally understand why. Ah well.

jwatzman 4y ago

> The more interesting one though, is that sometimes high-impact work is "just there" to be done, if you're looking. Author here. Yes, this was exactly my point! > But the best way I've found to detect promising junior engineers who will benefit from mentorship is to find who does bite, and more often respond "what if" instead of "but". Indeed. I've mentored a bunch of otherwise-competent engineers trying to get to the next level, and my advice is similar: ask yourself "ok, now what's next". After doing the cool thing, there's inevitably half a dozen other things around it, and things might be obvious to you (as the now-expert in the cool thing) but not others.

necovek 4y ago
> Author here. Yes, this was exactly my point! Your original example shows you doing extra hours and long days to achieve this: if this was your point, the example is terrible. I do agree with high-impact work just being there, but finding the time to do it other than "on your own time" is where the tension is between management and engineers who have a different belief of what the highest priority is.
- jwatzman 4y ago
  > if this was your point, the example is terrible. Yeah, I addressed this in another comment here. I attempted in the last section to separate the ideas of "I heroically dived in" and "I took an opportunity in front of me" -- you shouldn't go looking for heroics. This didn't quite get across, and I totally understand why. Ah well.