Engineering video
0:53 · 9 January 2023
Personal impressions of underdelivering do not reflect objective truth, especially given poor onboarding and the reality that it typically takes three to six months to become productive on complex software teams.
Hear it at 0:13 →So this developer was like two months into a new position. And he felt like he was under achieving, under delivering. He's like, I think I should approach my tech lead and just ask them what to do because I feel like I'm falling behind and I should approach them and tell them that, right? Now, that's a really crappy idea. You want to know why? First of all, that's your impression. It doesn't mean it's the truth.
What for you might not be enough, for other developers might be too much. Think about that. Number two, if you received little to no onboarding help, which is, come on, usually the case in software companies, it's absolutely normal to need some ramp up time to be productive. Which brings me into number three. In software teams, it's absolutely normal to underdeliver. What's more, in established teams dealing with complex projects, it can easily take from three to six months to be productive.
Nothing to freak out about. It's just the way it is. Number four, by the nature of being a software developer, even if you wear over delivering, you'll still feel like you're under delivering. Because that's how we think as developers, we feel like we never know enough.
