| All of the comments here about engineering being too focused on frameworks/languages/etc can be absolutely true, but I could say similar things about any functional area in every business because each area is driven by their specific incentive structure. For example, <Functional Area> is difficult to talk to because: -Sales - All they are focused on is driving sales and numbers against the multipliers and metrics the head of sales has set for the time period they believe they will be around. They have no sense for the long term. -Marketing - Only focused on the top of the funnel and give little thought to whether those customers will ever convert or be retained without proper guardrails in place. -Finance/Legal - Only focused on risk minimization, not necessarily on the cost of the risk minimization. All that said, regarding Engineering, there is a feedback loop that I've seen that can make these conversations more difficult than need be. Non-Tech Perspective - Tech people are difficult to work with because they are more likely to say "no" to new ideas. Tech Perspective - Tech people are hesitant to say yes to ideas that are not fully fleshed out because as soon as they say yes to a component of an idea, they will be held accountable for the implementation of the entire idea at the originally discussed timeline. I've seen this "bait and switch" happen enough times that I now specifically begin the conversation with "Let's discuss how long this specific version of the idea might take" or "What are your thoughts on this component in terms of difficulty" with the addendum that "If the scope on this new idea changes, I won't hold you accountable for your original estimate, we're just brainstorming". You can also start the conversation with "I'd just like to brainstorm and understand your perspective on new ideas, we are not talking about prioritization or implementation." The challenge is you actually have to mean it, and not backtrack, which is all about building trust. I also believe this loop happens unintentionally without malice, but it is done implicitly in a way that can rub engineering the wrong way. |
This is really important. Many tech people (to non-tech) come across as finding ways things WON'T work as opposed to providing solutions. I see this happen all the time.
Good tech people mature and realize this and that eventually leads to leadership roles.