I don't think this argument is very compelling: to me there is something behind the "traditional wisdom" of career progression in software development. From th

I don't think this argument is very compelling: to me there is something behind the "traditional wisdom" of career progression in software development. From the organization's point of view, good employees should ask themselves "how can I produce the most value for the business" and maybe "what skills can I develop that would allow me to produce greater value"? For a software developer, the answer to that question is usually, "learn how to work effectively at a higher level of abstraction" and/or "help organize the efforts of my team so that my group works more effectively". Sure, for an individual, it makes sense to take personal preferences ("I just like coding") into account alongside with organizational goals. But organizations are right to give preference to people who prioritize shared goals over personal ones. If the author wants to say that people who focus on writing code deserve higher pay / status in companies, he should argue that dedication to writing code is actually good for the companies.