Wow, this article couldn't have come at a better time for me. Recently, I jumped from being a lead developer to being an architect and manager. Benjamin articulates exactly what I'm going through. Unfortunately, I don't think going backwards is an option for me.
I actually did enjoy being a team lead for awhile (once I got the hang of it). If you're a people person, it can be tremendously rewarding to see your team thrive at delivering piles of awesome. I just reached a point where I wasn't learning anything anymore (Fog Creek's just not that big; you do pretty much run out of novel managey things after awhile) and wanted to do more coding again. So I guess I'd tell you to grasp on really tightly to the idea of hanging your success on your team's success, and knowing that if they're doing their job well, you're probably doing the right thing.
Great advice. Similar to you, the main vexation has been "what comes next". Being a developer, you can scale your knowledge vertically and horizontally, constantly improving yourself and growing. Being a "shit umbrella", though, doesn't seem to lend itself to such growth opportunities.
Thanks for sharing. I really like your perspective (not to mention the analogy). Would you agree, though, that part of the problem is with company's views on their own employee's trajectories?
I was fortunate enough to work at one company for 21 years (MS) that supported this model. I suspect, given my personality, passions, and style, if MS had not supported me in this way I would have just done it across many companies.
So, at my core, I believe it is up to the employee. If you are stuck, GET OUT.
