[benoau]

They are executing something they have planned and budgeted over many meetings and if everything is going on-schedule then everybody accountable for the project is in the process of chalking up a win on an important project - nobody is going to want to radically change the plan now.

[jamboca]

But what i am saying is like what if i showed the director that i can do the work that a team has taken months/years to do. And is still failing to do. Seems like best way to proceed is just put my head down which sucks and makes me want to leave

[panny]

You're working where they want cogs, interchangable cogs. They don't want you to build something special and be the only one who knows how it works. You could leave, and then they are screwed trying to support the thing you wrote. It sounds like you've already done some of this by your own description. You're not a senior, and you're busy trying to prove you are senior material, right? But if you really want to be senior, you need to do dull things that you are skipping. Documenting, collaborating, keeping everyone in the loop, sharing all the information you have as best you can.

Want to really be a senior? Think this way: Everything I build as a senior developer is an attempt to make myself obsolete. I should be able to give a two weeks notice and walk away with no harm to the company. When I build things at work, I never worry about job security, not even a little. If there is something I built that they can't support without me, I've failed.

And you will ultimately know you failed when you can't even go on vacation without carrying the company laptop with you. I know you're proud of that thing you built and how you're the only one who knows how it all works, but that's the core problem.

[benoau]

If the consensus is the project is failing share your thoughts on how to turn it around in your next one-on-one.

If the project is not failing, talk about how you would have done things differently in your next one-on-one and make it be known you'd like to be part of the planning next time.

It's normal to wish things were tailored more to your preference, it's normal to look back on how something was done and see a better way it could have been done. If you have retrospectives that's another good place to talk about these thoughts.

[JojoFatsani]

Well if you put your head down you’re doing what a good junior does which is just sharpen your technical skills and learn best practices cs anti patterns. You can have some good war stories in your future interviews.

The way to effect this change is to psy-op your teammates/bosses into thinking they came up with it.

[pavel_lishin]

> Seems like best way to proceed is just put my head down which sucks and makes me want to leave

It sounds like a bad culture fit for you, to be honest. Nothing wrong with looking for another job; you're not likely to be able to steer this ship around, if nobody is interested in supporting you.