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08-31

Why senior developers fail to communicate their expertise

This post frames senior developers' communication failure as a clash between two business loops. The first loop tries to reduce market uncertainty by shipping fast; the second loop keeps paying customers served by controlling system complexity. Once a company has customers, both loops run at once, so developers talk in terms of complexity while everyone else worries about uncertainty. The author argues that senior developers' real skill is refusing unnecessary work and reusing existing software, and that they should express it as 'Can we try something quicker?' — a phrase that acknowledges the business's need for speed while leaving room for simplification. He also proposes separating the fast 'Speed' system from a stable 'Scale' system, and warns that AI accelerates the first loop while degrading understandability and stability in the second, without taking responsibility. A thoughtful read for engineers interested in organizational communication and system evolution.

www.nair.sh · 13 min · Engineering Culture · Software Engineering · System Design