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Comment by fn-mote | Hacker News Reader

> Some developers [...] think that that one system only they know is job security

"You can't be promoted if you can't be replaced."

But a promotion also means change, maybe people are happy where they are? After all, you're most productive in a familiar codebase. Then again, if a codebase is "done", productivity is less important and often work dries up. There's plenty of people that are happy with working 10 but getting paid for 40 hours a week.

This. I am not a manager, but I LOVE writing code and solving problems. I would NOT love being a manager.

Some companies have parallel career progressions for individual contributors and managers. For example, Amazon has a distinct career progression for software development engineers (SDE): SDE I, SDE II, Senior SDE, Principal SDE, Senior Principal SDE. Sr Principal is a VP level position, but has no direct reports. It’s an advisory role.

I've noticed that, while these tracks are still technical, you will still find yourself in more and more meetings and writing less code. I think everyone needs to come to terms with whether or not they want a promotion regardless of the track.

Senior Principal engineer here (not at Amazon). Yeah :-(

At Amazon, if you don't get promoted, you get pipped, eventually.

Only if you aren't at a terminal level already, and you are easy to replace. When I was there one could find plenty of SDE IIIs (and a smattering of SDE IIs) who had found nice quiet niches of the codebase to hide out in for 5 years or more...

Who needs promotion? I just want more money

Perhaps another framing of the same idea is that you can’t work on other (bigger and better) things if you can’t hand your work off to someone else.

I don’t want to frame it positively. In my experience, people who hoard knowledge and/or relationships (as with other teams or customers) are toxic.

I hate all sorts of gatekeeping behavior but I especially despise having to wheedle information or effort out of someone like that. They almost invariably have an ego that is out of proportion to their contributions.

Side note: Occasionally I have seen people who take on the thankless task of being a maintainer of something no one else wants- those people tend to welcome others and share as much as others are willing to listen to, so being the single person who knows something doesn’t make you a gatekeeper.

It’s the gatekeepers that I hate.

Article author here: I've always said I want to be able to go on vacation and not get a call.

I like your framing better!

honestly every system I saw someone corner themselves in didn't take very long to have someone else figure out. you just toss some smart motivated folks at it. paging them every time something breaks also seems to help the knowledge transfer. I know it motiviated me to get in there and do a gut rehab.

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