Metadata
- Author: seangoedecke.com
- Full Title: What Can Strong Engineers Do That Weak Engineers Can’t?
- Category:#articles
- Document Tags: Development
- Summary: Strong engineers excel at tasks that weaker engineers cannot accomplish, even with extra time. While most engineers can handle regular tasks, some can tackle complex challenges, and others struggle with basic ones. When working with weak engineers, it’s important to be supportive but also protect your own time.
- URL: https://www.seangoedecke.com/weak-engineers
Highlights
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In my experience, the real measure of talent is not the speed or volume of output, but the capability to do tasks that other engineers can’t. In other words, strong engineers can do things that weaker engineers just can’t, even with all the time in the world. Therefore, the strongest engineers are stronger than people think they are: not 10x as strong as the median engineer, or even 100x, but infinity-x on some problems. The weakest engineers are weaker than people think they are: not 0.1x, but 0x. They can’t do almost any of the tasks that need doing in a large software organization. (View Highlight)
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you’re more likely to encounter weak engineers in senior roles. I think this is probably for two reasons. First, the bar to hire juniors is explicitly capability-based, so it’s harder to slip past it. In interviews, seniors can talk about work they were tangentially involved with, which is hard to distinguish from work they did. Second, a weak junior is often given more opportunity to learn, because it’s socially acceptable for them to not know things. A weak senior has to conceal their lack of knowledge and learn in secret, which is much harder. (View Highlight)
📂 Articles | Последнее изменение: 27.01.2025 10:30