> For many engineers (and me of course) this can be the most rewarding way to work. Agreed, this is also the world I grew up in. Nothing is as rewarding as wor

> For many engineers (and me of course) this can be the most rewarding way to work. Agreed, this is also the world I grew up in. Nothing is as rewarding as working on something where you have ownership to set the direction and deliver. For most of my career I had never heard of "product managers" and it was bliss. Somehwere along the line software engineer transformed from being the intellectual lead of the business, to simply a ticket-taker writing code for things some completely non-technical "product managers" decided should be done this week. And the inability to be allowed to think or plan for anything beyond a two week sprint window is mentally crushing. I've moved to different roles now since software engineering became such a miserable job. I'd jump back in a heartbeat though if there was a company operating like we did in the 80s and 90s where engineers owned engineering.