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You seem to be conflating IC with coding. I spend so little time on the keyboard that I couldn't even learn a new keyboard layout without extra typing practice.
by karmakaze 3y ago
You seem to be conflating IC with coding. I spend so little time on the keyboard that I couldn't even learn a new keyboard layout without extra typing practice. The most value I provide is in guiding the shape of emerging projects, as well as technical alignment with other projects and long-term directions in parts of the platform. None of that is 'coding'. If my hands are on the keyboard, it's for technical communication. Having people report to me isn't going to make be better at providing this kind of input.
- jghn 3y agoYes. This is the main thrust of my point. If you spend enough time in threads on this topic here, you'll see people popping up complaining that there's no IC path forward without taking time away from coding and requiring building good soft skills. What I was getting at is that with few exceptions, no such path exists. You're 100% right that one doesn't need to go into leadership roles, and definitely not management roles, to get there. But one's hands on keyboard contributions will top out at some point and the only way to move the needle further is to do something else on top of that. I personally separate the concepts of leadership and people management. So to me, most paths forward start to enter the sphere of "leadership" one way or another. But this is just nomenclature, YMMV.
- karmakaze 3y agoWe might be in agreement but certain phrases like "I just want to code" detract from it. Technical leadership doesn't need to manage people, but soft skills are still valuable. This can be done in an IC role. > What I was getting at is that with few exceptions, no such path exists. What I believe the post to be about is what such an exception could look like as a model for other orgs.