I think that both types of engineers are valuable assets to any team. Those who emphasize best practices bring stability and reliability to the project, while the ones focused on the product drive innovation and user satisfaction. Together, they create a balanced and effective development environment
Very interesting point, thanks for the good article!
At big companies, I think it's harder to get close contact with users because there are many more layers in the middle. But I also got some great advice some time ago that I liked: "The more you want to advance in your career, the closer you should get to your product manager"
Seeking to understand them will help in developing that product-oriented mindset and even coming up with a new idea if you find any way to solve their problem.
I think it's also more rewarding to solve a problem for people than to solve a technical problem. But I'm afraid we may be in a bubble: All of us who write online have this "entrepreneurship bias". We like helping people, but not everyone may think the same. And that's fine too.
Loved the article Leo. As a team leader, my first product manager was once a developer in the team - which was a huge benefit for me :)
I briefed some of the retros, but I still couldn't understand how the Roles & Responsibilities are divided. Assuming a team has a Team Lead, 5 engineers and a PM, how would it work out? Seems to me like it makes the PM work a bit obsolete (I read the part about deeper dives, but I'm wondering how often are those needed).
Really good writeup on product-minded engineers vs. stack-minded engineers 🙌🏼
A lot of larger corporations tech to hire and organize around stack-minded engineers.
A lot of startups tend to hire and incentivize product-minded engineers.
Both have their strengths. Both could learn a bit from each other.
Personally, I prefer being a product-minded engineer.
It’s served me really well at several startups I’ve worked at, and large 0-1 projects I’ve worked on.
Product-engineers + Product manager vision + culture that gives space for this = amazing products
Is this useful? Different terms used but same sentiment https://medium.com/codex/developer-vs-engineer-373d4a4ba22a
I think that both types of engineers are valuable assets to any team. Those who emphasize best practices bring stability and reliability to the project, while the ones focused on the product drive innovation and user satisfaction. Together, they create a balanced and effective development environment
This was a fantastic read - thanks for sharing this with the world!
Very interesting point, thanks for the good article!
At big companies, I think it's harder to get close contact with users because there are many more layers in the middle. But I also got some great advice some time ago that I liked: "The more you want to advance in your career, the closer you should get to your product manager"
Seeking to understand them will help in developing that product-oriented mindset and even coming up with a new idea if you find any way to solve their problem.
I think it's also more rewarding to solve a problem for people than to solve a technical problem. But I'm afraid we may be in a bubble: All of us who write online have this "entrepreneurship bias". We like helping people, but not everyone may think the same. And that's fine too.
i like the second one better
Great post!
It's funny how it all begins with the mind.
From there be proactive and you can make such a difference.
Loved the article Leo. As a team leader, my first product manager was once a developer in the team - which was a huge benefit for me :)
I briefed some of the retros, but I still couldn't understand how the Roles & Responsibilities are divided. Assuming a team has a Team Lead, 5 engineers and a PM, how would it work out? Seems to me like it makes the PM work a bit obsolete (I read the part about deeper dives, but I'm wondering how often are those needed).