[jollybean]

'High Performance Devs' I've found tend to build the things they want to build.

I've yet to meet the kind of superstar dev who is also superstar market and customer oriented.

That can be challenging as a lot of important innovation doesn't come from customer feedback and you need talented people to do those things as well.

[dnndev]

This is very true. Most shops have an R&D team for long term innovation and other devs like myself who love customer feedback and want to deliver solutions now.

[hallway_monitor]

I have not heard this about "most shops", in fact I have never worked in an org with a functioning software R&D team (unless you count enterprise architects choosing vendors).

[Karrot_Kream]

No but I've seen similar dynamics play out at most companies. Broadly, "product teams" focus on customer feedback and delivering value to customers, at the expense of technical debt and lots of fickle requests. "Infrastructure" teams are heavily insulated from customers and deal with a more long-term roadmap and fewer changing requirements.

[gregors]

Product and Engineering need to be peers in this regard.

I think Spolsky said it best about the dynamic between managers, product and developers

https://youtu.be/A3-ijSmDQ3c?t=983