How To Get Ahead of 99% of Software Engineers (Starting Today)

Summary

This video script reveals the secrets of the top 1% of software engineers, emphasizing the importance of thriving in ambiguity, identifying impactful problems, becoming a subject matter expert, and being customer-obsessed. It also highlights the need to avoid over-engineering, mentor others, understand business impact, and improve company culture. The speaker shares personal experiences and provides actionable advice for aspiring engineers to excel in their careers.

Takeaways

• 🧑‍💻 **Thrive in Ambiguity**: Top engineers embrace uncertainty and take initiative without needing explicit instructions, focusing on problem-solving rather than waiting for direction.
• 🔎 **Find and Define Problems**: The best software engineers actively seek out impactful problems, understand their scope, and clearly define what success looks like in addressing them.
• 📈 **Become a Subject Matter Expert**: Building deep expertise in a specific area leads to becoming a go-to person, which is achieved by spending time, understanding complexities, and gaining trust through consistent problem-solving.
• 👀 **Be Customer-Obsessed**: Top engineers prioritize customer needs and feedback, ensuring that the solutions they build are relevant and valued by the end-users.
• 🛠️ **Avoid Over-Engineering**: It's important to build for the present needs without overcomplicating solutions. Focus on delivering value quickly and iterating based on real-world use.
• 🤔 **Think About Trade-offs**: Understanding the balance between technical excellence and practical constraints is key. The best engineers know when to optimize and when to simplify.
• 👨‍🏫 **Mentor Others**: Sharing knowledge and experience helps in building a strong team and contributes to personal growth. Top engineers actively mentor and guide others in their career.
• 💼 **Understand Business Impact**: Recognizing the financial implications of engineering decisions and aligning work with business goals is a characteristic of top engineers.
• 🌟 **Improve Culture**: Leading by example and actively participating in shaping a positive company culture is a mark of a top engineer. This includes organizing events, sharing knowledge, and enhancing the interview process.
• 🔄 **Iterate and Improve**: Continuous improvement is a mindset. Top engineers understand that tech debt is inevitable and embrace the opportunity to refine and enhance their work over time.
• 🔗 **Build a Personal Brand**: By contributing to the industry outside the company, such as through blogs and conferences, top engineers establish a reputation that extends beyond their immediate work environment.

Q & A

What is the first secret to becoming a top 1% software engineer as mentioned in the script?

The first secret is to thrive in ambiguity, which means accepting the lack of clear instructions and taking responsibility to figure out the problem and make it happen.

How can software engineers define success when dealing with vague problems?

Engineers should define a success criteria by understanding what the problem is and then determining what it means to be successful, especially when the problem itself is not clearly defined.

What is the role of planning and design in the approach of top 1% software engineers?

Top engineers spend a lot of time thinking and designing before coding. They create design documents and tech specs, gather feedback, and ensure they have buy-in from relevant parties before they start coding.

Why is it important for software engineers to find and solve high-impact problems?

Finding and solving high-impact problems is a mark of a rockstar engineer because it demonstrates the ability to identify significant issues, convince leadership of their importance, and then solve them effectively.

How can software engineers improve their discoverability of problems within a system?

Engineers can improve discoverability by spending time exploring the codebase, having casual conversations with team members, and examining metrics to understand pain points and surface issues to leadership.

What does it mean to become a subject matter expert in software engineering?

Becoming a subject matter expert means being the go-to person for certain aspects of a company, being responsible for entire product lines or teams, and building trust by demonstrating deep understanding and expertise in a specific area.

Why should software engineers be customer-obsessed?

Being customer-obsessed ensures that engineers are building products that solve real problems for real people, leaving their ego at the door, and focusing on delivering value to the end-user.

How can software engineers avoid over-engineering solutions?

Engineers can avoid over-engineering by building for the current needs, not over-planning for future scale, and understanding that there is power in shipping a feature and iterating on it slowly.

What is the significance of mentoring in the growth of a software engineer?

Mentoring is significant because it helps engineers learn from the experiences and habits of more experienced peers, improving their skills and efficiency, and contributing to their personal and professional growth.

Why is understanding business impact important for software engineers?

Understanding business impact is important because it aligns engineers with projects that can significantly move the company's bottom line, increasing profitability and shareholder value.

How do top software engineers contribute to improving company culture?

Top engineers improve company culture by running hackathons, writing blog posts, organizing conferences, and making the interview process better, understanding that a good culture attracts great talent and is essential for scaling a company.