What most Software Developers forget!

Software developers is a breed which feeds on problems. The more complex the problem the more satisfied they feel after having bite of it. And in this process they start believing that they get paid to write code, and solving technical challenges.

Which is “partly” true! The things that most of us SDE’s forget is that we are getting paid by a business which has to earn profits to pay us. But during development people forget the real world they are coding for and get lost in the tech world.

So if you are not increasing the efficiency of the business or just developing basic APIs or UIs, which anyone can develop, you are just a fixed cost to the company and you will never get a proportional profit from the business. Basically you are in the average league of 90%.

The remaining 10% are exceptional and is a proof that Software Developers can make it big. Now 5% of these exceptional 10% will be technically very smart and experienced and they take on the seats of CTO’s, Tech leads in businesses as they are proven to produce high quality software with maximum resource utilisation (Human and Machine). And the remaining 5% are smarter in terms of business thinking. Apart from development they will start getting involved in business outcomes and acquire more equity overtime making them have more influence in the business.

So don’t get lost in the 90% and remove the blinkers while developing to look at the holistic picture. Sooner or later everyone realises it but after reading this you should realise it sooner.