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The senior engineer death spiral: working harder makes it worse
1 report1 sourceupdated 9 days ago
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Summary
Sunil Pai 描述了一种常见失败模式：高级工程师为了证明自己，接下大项目，然后消失几周只报喜不报忧，最后陷入 burnout、抑郁或 PIP。他的反直觉解法是：降一级，做最好的队友——修 bug、干杂活、帮别人。重点从“出成果”转向“保持 momentum”。信任比代码重要，软件是声誉的副产品。
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Sep 20
- Hacker News front pageThe senior engineer death spiral: working harder makes it worse
Sunil Pai describes a common failure pattern: senior engineers take on huge projects to prove themselves, disappear for weeks giving only positive updates, then spiral into burnout, depression, or PIP. His counterintuitive fix: drop a level, become the best teammate—fix bugs, do grunt work, help others. Focus on momentum, not outcomes. Trust matters more than code; software is downstream of reputation.