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Focus on solutions. Coding is a tool for solving a problem, so the fix is to move up the food chain. Look for ways to use AI to solve a human problem. Think in

Focus on solutions. Coding is a tool for solving a problem, so the fix is to move up the food chain. Look for ways to use AI to solve a human problem. Think in terms of spreadsheets. In the past, it took someone, a very specialized person, to do a full breakdown of a company's finances. Now, a relative math novice can do the same thing in a fraction of the time. Now they don't have to spend time solving 1+3. Now they can solve other more complex problems. I'm one that believes that coding will change but it won't go away any time soon.

toomuchtodo 2y ago
“I solve business problems, sometimes with code.” https://www.kalzumeus.com/2011/10/28/dont-call-yourself-a-programmer/ https://www.kalzumeus.com/2011/10/28/dont-call-yourself-a-pr...
- solardev 2y ago
  (2011) It feels pretty outdated these days. All the roles are hyper specialized and engineers are a dime a dozen, and the whole profit vs cost center thing is pretty obscured by fashion trends instead (mobile, Next, crypto, AI) and big cyclical bubbles. I think we've long moved past the stage where technical ability alone is enough to get you hired. There's a glut of us now.
  - WheelsAtLarge 2y ago
    Don't miss the forest for the trees. Sure some of the buzzwords might be slightly outdated but the advice is timeless. A golden rule to remember is that people are hired to save money or add profit. If you have not or it is not the case anymore then your job is in danger.
    - solardev 2y ago
      Well, I get that part of the argument, but I'm not sure I fully believe it. It's not so much the semantics I'm concerned about, but the idea that you should try to get a role in the money-making parts of the business... is that really what drives hiring/firing decisions? Over the last decade or so, at least, it feels like most of those hiring/layoff decisions were driven by aspirational future valuations instead. When money was cheap, they hired everybody. When money got expensive, they laid everyone off. I don't know that the sales people survived any better than the devs, did they? Seems like the macro staffing trends are more driven by market conditions than a reasoned accounting of staffing ROIs, whereas the micro decisions (who on the team to let go) is more a political and maybe seniority or performance thing. I'm not a manager though, so maybe that's just how it works up higher and I don't see it. But from the peasant's eye view, at least, it doesn't seem like that's how those decisions are being made...

toomuchtodo 2y ago

“I solve business problems, sometimes with code.” https://www.kalzumeus.com/2011/10/28/dont-call-yourself-a-programmer/ https://www.kalzumeus.com/2011/10/28/dont-call-yourself-a-pr...

solardev 2y ago
(2011) It feels pretty outdated these days. All the roles are hyper specialized and engineers are a dime a dozen, and the whole profit vs cost center thing is pretty obscured by fashion trends instead (mobile, Next, crypto, AI) and big cyclical bubbles. I think we've long moved past the stage where technical ability alone is enough to get you hired. There's a glut of us now.
- WheelsAtLarge 2y ago
  Don't miss the forest for the trees. Sure some of the buzzwords might be slightly outdated but the advice is timeless. A golden rule to remember is that people are hired to save money or add profit. If you have not or it is not the case anymore then your job is in danger.
  - solardev 2y ago
    Well, I get that part of the argument, but I'm not sure I fully believe it. It's not so much the semantics I'm concerned about, but the idea that you should try to get a role in the money-making parts of the business... is that really what drives hiring/firing decisions? Over the last decade or so, at least, it feels like most of those hiring/layoff decisions were driven by aspirational future valuations instead. When money was cheap, they hired everybody. When money got expensive, they laid everyone off. I don't know that the sales people survived any better than the devs, did they? Seems like the macro staffing trends are more driven by market conditions than a reasoned accounting of staffing ROIs, whereas the micro decisions (who on the team to let go) is more a political and maybe seniority or performance thing. I'm not a manager though, so maybe that's just how it works up higher and I don't see it. But from the peasant's eye view, at least, it doesn't seem like that's how those decisions are being made...