Welcome back! This is my second in the series of Leveling Up Hacks. If you missed the first, it's over here, where I talked more about how sharing your progress helps you level up faster. Now, let's dive into the next hack.
One of the most counterintuitive ways to level up as a software engineer isn’t about writing more code, learning a new framework, or grinding through JIRA tickets.
It’s about knowing when to take a step back.
What does stepping back mean? It means zooming out to see the bigger picture. Identifying blind spots. Understanding the why before jumping into the how.
As engineers, we love solving problems. But sometimes, we get so caught up in execution that we don’t stop to ask:
Are we solving the right problem?
What trade-offs are we making?
How does this fit into the bigger picture?
The ability to step back and see the forest instead of the trees is what I've seen separates senior engineers from mid-level ones. Funnily enough, it’s a skill that doesn’t come naturally. Slowing …
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