I realized this the moment I started interviewing for engineering positions, after doing game design for some time. I decided I would go back to design from whe

I realized this the moment I started interviewing for engineering positions, after doing game design for some time. I decided I would go back to design from whence I came - albeit now I've expanded from game design to include UX. That recontextualized my programming skills as execution on a design idea - instead of as engineering towards optimal code quality. I get to stay near the top of the stack and not worry _too_ much about how broken it all is, because I'm not going to try building my career around that. There will always be folks eager to be employed as cogs or who try to attain "thought leader" status. That's not really a judgment on those people, since maybe their personality or situation makes it a good fit. But if it's bothering you that you can't go farther from within this lens, find a slightly different one.