The engineer I want to be

Starting in 2017, I began conducting weekly personal retrospectives, focusing on ways to improve my career and myself as an engineer. Through these retrospectives, I started developing a framework based on my experiences and the insights of other engineers I’ve encountered. This framework aims to define what makes a valuable and impactful engineer.

Guiding Principles

  1. For major incidents I am involved in, whether in the cause or as part of the remediation, I conduct my own post-mortem and root cause analysis. This ensures I fully understand the problem and solution, and that this information is documented.

  2. I document and articulate all of my ideas and proposed designs in a way that is understandable to others. I practice this discipline even for personal projects.

  3. I read engineering-related books every day.

  4. I write code more days than I do not write code.

  5. I use a test driven approach to building new things.

  6. When I encounter something important that I do not understand, I take the time to educate myself or add it to a queue for later investigation. I regularly dedicate time to addressing this backlog.

  7. I am not attached to any particular technology or ideology, regardless of my personal comfort or familiarity with it. Instead, I form data-driven opinions based on research and context.

  8. I document everything I work on with the goal of providing full context to someone who might be encountering it for the first time, even if the domain is only meant to be temporary.

  9. I am approachable and helpful to the best of my abilities when I am able.

  10. I take full ownership of things I build or for which I am responsible.

  11. I make sure to zoom out when thinking about technical problems and consider things from the perspective of the wider business or project.

  12. I am thoughtful about where I get involved, ensuring I do not spread myself too thin or step on the toes of others.

  13. I take time to think before speaking or responding, when the situation allows.

  14. When answering questions or solving problems, I not only think about the solution but also consider why someone might be asking to ensure it is the right question to begin with.