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This is a dangerous line of thinking, useful as a counterpoint to consider, but a terrible basis for thinking about your life and career. The problem is that t
by lbrandy 14y ago
This is a dangerous line of thinking, useful as a counterpoint to consider, but a terrible basis for thinking about your life and career.
The problem is that the worst kind of engineer is the one who thinks he is a top 5% engineer, who proclaims his, and all other, organizations dysfunctional, who is convinced his managers and peers are out to get him because of their jealousy, who sees enemies everywhere, and who ends up getting along with no one, self-fulfilling the prophecy, and being a net negative.
Being really good at your job is a great way to succeed in life almost everywhere. If you frequently find yourself in political death struggles in organization after organization, it might be time for some self reflection.
- jakejake 14y agoI was just thinking that it's interesting how at least 80% of developers are in the top 5%. It's one of the truly amazing things about our industry, we defy the laws of mathematics.
- hayksaakian 14y agoI think its just another byproduct of America's confidence culture, where any sign of uncertainty next the a confident idiot paints you as inferior.
- jakejake 14y agoI have to plead ignorance about other countries. But in the US, I haven't really encountered too many developers who I sensed projecting superiority for the sake of job security. What I mean is that my impression is that they truly do believe they are a top developer. I have run into a few of those "job security" guys who are difficult to work with, but not that often. I think part of it is that it's easy to look at another developer's code which you inherit and judge it to be inferior to your own work. I have found this to be very common - the developer who is constantly griping about the terrible code they inherited. (I myself have been guilty of this). But, it can be more difficult to actually create the code - especially under time or budget constraints or requirements that change over the years. So, in that case it can be tempting to judge yourself as a better developer - when in reality you may have created the same crappy code or worse.
- michaelochurch 14y agoExcellence and overperformance (which are not the same thing) are dangerous in the short term but good bets in the long run. Yes, it's more virtuous and feels better to do a good job, I agree. It's almost certainly better for your career in the long run to do things well. If you, however, absolutely cannot afford to lose a regular income, your best bet is to manage your performance to the middle. I'm not saying, "you should intentionally suck at your job". That would be a depressing and horrible way to live. I'm saying that society does not always reward doing the right thing. Having a child might motivate you to think about the future, or regain faith in progress and the world, or start taking hard work serious, and that's great. It might also make you so terrified of getting fired that you stop trying to excel and cease advancing. I've seen both.
- coopdog 14y agoAnother excellent team strategy is being generous with your abilities. Aim to appear average, but secretly prop each team member up without letting anyone else know. Maybe you fix a bug for them and don't tell anyone, talk a strategy through with someone and let them take credit for the results, or take a hit for someone you supervise knowing you can make up for it later. People eventually figure out what's going on and the team will back you later when needed.