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by RC_ITR 1459 days ago
Well, it was easy to be part of a team (even if you weren't really) when you were physically collocated with said team.

But now, unless you really really are part of that team, you are an IC. Programming, by nature of what it is and who does it, always had a bunch of IC's, but now the phenomenon is more clear due to remote (which is something I recommend a lot of people on here thing about as they design their career).
3 comments
saddd 1459 days ago
I'm not sure what you mean. In a corporate job ladder, anyone who isn't strictly a manager and writes at least SOME code is classified as an IC. That's not to say that there are no managers who also write code, though.
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RC_ITR 1459 days ago
Yeah and I'm saying, from experience, people 'fall into' being a manager by nature of informal mentorship relationships that happen in person, but now you have to more aggressively 'opt-in' to be a manager.
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codingdave 1459 days ago
That isn't what IC means - it means "not management". You do your job, whatever that may be and whomever you may be teamed with, but do not have direct reports.
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davidthewatson 1458 days ago
I find it interesting that IC once meant, "integrated circuit" in the same culture which exists here now, but decades earlier. Having been on both sides of the false dichotomy that's drawn between management and individual contributors, my experience has been that great ICs don't necessarily need management and great management are often great precisely because of their individual contribution. It's paradoxical that perfection may emerge despite the fact that product, process, and people exist on a spectrum that produces so much conflict. One wonders whether product perfection is, in fact, emergent with respect to the conflict around people and process.
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RC_ITR 1459 days ago
Yeah and I'm saying, from experience, people 'fall into' being a manager by nature of informal mentorship relationships that happen in person, but now you have to more aggressively 'opt-in' to be a manager.
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astrange 1459 days ago
If you're a high level IC you can have people temporarily assigned to you, though; it's assumed that you could be doing managing if you wanted to, and sometimes you just can't do your projects by yourself.
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DragonStrength 1459 days ago
Everywhere I have worked, "IC" meant "not a people manager," so no, it is not a term which can be substituted with "programmer."
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