[tylerrobinson]

This is such a wild take and would be so toxic to any organization.

Assuming you’re not trolling: you might be surprised to know that your colleagues are actually not, in fact, idiots, and will sniff this out.

For how many years do you suppose you will find it rewarding to fake your way from one thing to another? 5, 10, 20, your whole career?

[H8crilA]

My whole career. It has worked for quite a few years already without a hiccup.

What makes this strategy work is the quantity of technical incompetence that's present in nearly all workplaces. I am actually a liked employee (both by superiors and by colleagues), I just have a low tolerance for bullshit. Usually the problem is "the other way around", that is with people that follow processes, use proper corpspeak but don't actually produce much, and are trying to cover the low output with manners.

I've been writing code on and off since I was 8 years old. Of course not professionally :)

[Footkerchief]

From an anecdata standpoint, I would say this describes the mentality of ~20% of my past colleagues, and it didn't particularly correlate with their productivity. Inversely, the not-faking-it true believers bring their own problems, like failing to recognize (and hedge against) the possibility that their managers are incompetent and untrustworthy.

From an ethical standpoint, this is no more toxic or false than the facades presented by many employers to their employees.

[protastus]

My take, as a developer and a manager: everyone sniffs this out. It's a well known marginal dev archetype. For now, this behavior can be compatible with stable employment, but the tension around accountability sets a ceiling in career advancement.

If we experience a white collar recession, the toxic players will have to reevaluate their behavior.