3 ms·

Whether it's fair or not, I believe that people of a certain age that are still "generalists" in their own estimations give off vibes to management or senior en

by mp05 3y ago

Whether it's fair or not, I believe that people of a certain age that are still "generalists" in their own estimations give off vibes to management or senior engineers that they aren't disciplined enough to "specialize". I can't stress enough that this is just my observation and personal experience, and not a judgment necessarily... but it really was the case for me and I bet that's the case for a lot of people in this situation. For what it's worth, I grinded and went back to a state school for industrial engineering and wouldn't you know, my management/architect prospects improved immensely, even as a super senior just now in his 400-level coursework. Obviously not everyone has the resources or opportunity to do such a thing, but if you do, for the love of God consider it deeply.

JTyQZSnP3cQGa8B 3y ago
> give off vibes [...] that they aren't disciplined enough to "specialize". You're right, but it's still sad that curiosity (aka "lack of discipline") is frowned upon. I have learned Go and Rust because it could be useful in the next five years. HR hates it when recruiting, but management is happy if you do this after you are hired because they think you're some kind of "tech leader."
- marcosdumay 3y ago
  Often it's not even curiosity, it's wanting to solve a problem instead of "doing work" at your "assigned role". If you want to actually improve something on your organization, you'll have to solve lots and lots of problems that nobody owns. If you insist, well, congratulations, you are now a generalist. I'm pretty sure what the GP is calling "discipline" is an euphemism for "passive obedience".
  - mp05 3y ago
    > Often it's not even curiosity, it's wanting to solve a problem instead of "doing work" at your "assigned role". If someone is writing me a check to work an "assigned role" then by God that's what I'm doing. > I'm pretty sure what the GP is calling "discipline" is an euphemism for "passive obedience". Realizing that to get further in your career that you need to buckle down and be very good a specific thing is "passive obedience"?
Izkata 3y ago
> Whether it's fair or not, I believe that people of a certain age that are still "generalists" in their own estimations give off vibes to management or senior engineers that they aren't disciplined enough to "specialize". Fun fact, the original meaning of "jack of all trades", even before "is a master of none" was tacked on, meant someone who couldn't master a trade so they tried everything (and given the context of referring to criminals, "and kept failing, so turned to crime"): https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/jack-of-all-trades.html https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/jack-of-all-trades.html

by mp05 3y ago

JTyQZSnP3cQGa8B 3y ago

> give off vibes [...] that they aren't disciplined enough to "specialize". You're right, but it's still sad that curiosity (aka "lack of discipline") is frowned upon. I have learned Go and Rust because it could be useful in the next five years. HR hates it when recruiting, but management is happy if you do this after you are hired because they think you're some kind of "tech leader."

marcosdumay 3y ago
Often it's not even curiosity, it's wanting to solve a problem instead of "doing work" at your "assigned role". If you want to actually improve something on your organization, you'll have to solve lots and lots of problems that nobody owns. If you insist, well, congratulations, you are now a generalist. I'm pretty sure what the GP is calling "discipline" is an euphemism for "passive obedience".
- mp05 3y ago
  > Often it's not even curiosity, it's wanting to solve a problem instead of "doing work" at your "assigned role". If someone is writing me a check to work an "assigned role" then by God that's what I'm doing. > I'm pretty sure what the GP is calling "discipline" is an euphemism for "passive obedience". Realizing that to get further in your career that you need to buckle down and be very good a specific thing is "passive obedience"?

Izkata 3y ago

> Whether it's fair or not, I believe that people of a certain age that are still "generalists" in their own estimations give off vibes to management or senior engineers that they aren't disciplined enough to "specialize". Fun fact, the original meaning of "jack of all trades", even before "is a master of none" was tacked on, meant someone who couldn't master a trade so they tried everything (and given the context of referring to criminals, "and kept failing, so turned to crime"): https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/jack-of-all-trades.html https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/jack-of-all-trades.html