> But reliable car mechanics don't get paid a lot. Not a great analogy. Reliable car mechanics often get paid very well in comparison to their peers. Used to b

> But reliable car mechanics don't get paid a lot. Not a great analogy. Reliable car mechanics often get paid very well in comparison to their peers. Used to be one. Got into tech as a result of how much tech got into cars. Do they pay as well as tech jobs? Depends. I made more money and worked less hours than my buddy in IT at one of the largest corporations in America in the same city (granted not a techhub like SV, Seattle, NYC, etc, but most places aren't). The key differentiator here is not time spent building vs time spent repairing (troubleshooting). It's knowing what's worth spending your time on, and when to say "No", because not everything needs fixed, nor is every problem necessarily yours to solve. Truly good diagnostics skills is knowing what's worth spending time on, regardless of whether it's repairing something that exists or building something that doesn't. A tire with only 10% of treadwear could technically be replaced with something better, but is that worth anyone's time or money? Probably not. But if the tire on the opposite side is still brand new, and they were replaced at the same time, diagnostics tells you the alignment is off, and that issue - whatever it may be - very well could be worth everyone's time and money to fix. Code is no different. Don't try to fix/improve/build everything. Focus on what matters. Good troubleshooting/diagnostic skills is a big part of knowing what does, and doesn't.