Ask HN: “You struggle to design solutions to complex problems.”

[fooboy]

Hey all, back with an anon posting. I posted this a while ago:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6375141

Things have improved in some ways and worsened in others. I've had a chance to grow, but my work is becoming increasingly managerial. After failing to ship a project earlier this year, my boss made the comment in the title, citing it as a reason I would not be promoted this year.

I do not disagree with the criticism, but have decided to move on, believing that opportunities to improve and grow at this firm are limited to managerial tracks. I'd like to move into management a few years from now, but not immediately.

How can I get better at designing solutions? I'm often overwhelmed by the space of possible solutions, and freeze up when thinking of an approach.

EDIT: by "solution" I believe my boss meant either a feature or product that solves the desired problem.

[hardwaresofton]

I guess this is obvious advice, but you should probably focus on getting better at designing solutions by designing solutions.

While I'm a little fuzzy on what exactly the word "solution" means for you, but if it means things like designing a product that accomplishes a goal from backend to front, then you can certainly do that without anyone's permissions, and it serves as great practice for learning the areas that actually must be considered when creating solutions for clients.

Also, struggling with the large space of possible solutions is the job of a person who creates solutions. Carefully weighing tradeoffs and making good choices in the face of uncertainty is kind of the reason they pay architects and people with those kinds of jobs so much

[fooboy]

Thanks for commenting. Agreed with your definition of "solution."

This is why I'm leaving, actually: opportunities to design solutions are dwindling, as I'm getting more managerial work.

[hardwaresofton]

So I also have the same desire, but what I have found comforting is working on side projects, for work and for myself. As long as wherever you're working now isn't too strict with ownership (like they don't try to own everything you do all the time) then when you want to move to a more creative place, you can leverage the side projects (describe them, tradeoffs, etc) and they'll be very impressed.

Also, as long as the work isn't too soul crushing, you could get your design/creation itch satisfied elsewhere while they pay for you to do so.

While this might not be ideal, I always code outside of wherever I'm working at the time, that takes the pressure off the position to be super challenging.

Also, generally people at companies that have become somewhat complacent are always very impressed to find you have time for side projects.

Why not grab one of the ideas on here on the idea-sunday threads and start making it? Pick a language/framework/database that you don't know, and start fleshing out and app.

One of the cool recent things I've seen is strongloop, which does your whole API & DB layer (think ORM on steroids) for you, and you can pair that with some messing around on the front end, and instantly get a taste for a new technology, as well as getting something to put on your resume