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It's funny, I've been a developer for 40+ years, been coding since the 80's. I always thought I would "just" write code, but around year 25, I realized I had ou

It's funny, I've been a developer for 40+ years, been coding since the 80's. I always thought I would "just" write code, but around year 25, I realized I had outgrown programming and wanted to make bigger things, with greater reach. This meant not just entire products, but product lines, product strategies, brand identities. After this realization, it took me a decade to see that office politics exist because you are literally trying to steer the company, and so are other people, and you will disagree. I guess I haven't been fucked hard enough yet, because I enjoy this process. Some people call it a game, but I think it is just reality: if you want to do big things, you need an entirely new set of problem solving skills. 40 year old me would have scoffed at 58 year old me as a sellout, but here I am, enjoying it far more than debugging C code for a paycheck. I only debug my own C code now, and layout my stereo amplifiers circuits, even if they suck, because it doesn't impact my paycheck!

gilbetron 3y ago
I'm about 5 years behind you, career-wise, and have been transitioning to that way of thinking the past several years and am now in a position to actually get to do it. It is weird to realize that coding, while I still kinda like it, feels like a waste of time. By that I mean too little of an impact. It's fun, but stressful, in this "new" role. I'm still debugging systems, but I now include the human/organizational element. Not really a manager, but not really an engineer either. Very strange - any advice?
- demondemidi 3y ago
  I thiiiink I know where you are, so here's my $0.02. $0.01 - Don't overachieve other peoples' work, keep boundaries. I'm an overachiever, but I found that when people around me start to miss things I would do their work. Two levels above me are blind to who does the work, they just want it done. If I'm getting others' work done people will expect me to keep doing it. While this might jeopardize the product if I stop doing it, it is important to not be the one that cleans up everyone's messes because it will kill your soul and the mess never really gets cleaned up. Sometimes things need to break and be visible at the top level for change to happen. This becomes more important as you start to manage more products at higher levels. $0.01 - Define requirements and deliverables exquisitely, since you can't solve all of your problems just by putting in more time. When I was a dev, I could pull an 80 hour week and finish something. But now I depend on 150+ engineers, and I cannot simply work more hours to fix things. Make your peace with that, and instead work on having very clear requirements. The more effort you put into clearly defining what you need, the more you can feel at ease with letting go and letting people do their thing. Bonus: don't be afraid to say "no". You gotta protect your sanity. If someone wants to blow past you and win all the gold medals, let 'em. There are always going to be people that will work 200%, I'm just not willing to sacrifice what's left of my life. I'm by no means a slacker, but there is ALWAYS 300x more work to be done no matter how efficient you and your teams are. Hope that helps? Good luck!

gilbetron 3y ago

I'm about 5 years behind you, career-wise, and have been transitioning to that way of thinking the past several years and am now in a position to actually get to do it. It is weird to realize that coding, while I still kinda like it, feels like a waste of time. By that I mean too little of an impact. It's fun, but stressful, in this "new" role. I'm still debugging systems, but I now include the human/organizational element. Not really a manager, but not really an engineer either. Very strange - any advice?

demondemidi 3y ago
I thiiiink I know where you are, so here's my $0.02. $0.01 - Don't overachieve other peoples' work, keep boundaries. I'm an overachiever, but I found that when people around me start to miss things I would do their work. Two levels above me are blind to who does the work, they just want it done. If I'm getting others' work done people will expect me to keep doing it. While this might jeopardize the product if I stop doing it, it is important to not be the one that cleans up everyone's messes because it will kill your soul and the mess never really gets cleaned up. Sometimes things need to break and be visible at the top level for change to happen. This becomes more important as you start to manage more products at higher levels. $0.01 - Define requirements and deliverables exquisitely, since you can't solve all of your problems just by putting in more time. When I was a dev, I could pull an 80 hour week and finish something. But now I depend on 150+ engineers, and I cannot simply work more hours to fix things. Make your peace with that, and instead work on having very clear requirements. The more effort you put into clearly defining what you need, the more you can feel at ease with letting go and letting people do their thing. Bonus: don't be afraid to say "no". You gotta protect your sanity. If someone wants to blow past you and win all the gold medals, let 'em. There are always going to be people that will work 200%, I'm just not willing to sacrifice what's left of my life. I'm by no means a slacker, but there is ALWAYS 300x more work to be done no matter how efficient you and your teams are. Hope that helps? Good luck!