As you gain success, the rising expectation of quality can cause you to over-filter ideas and hesitate to ship work. This is dangerous because feedback on shipped work is the primary ingredient for growth. You must consciously fight this success-induced paralysis and continue to put work out there.
A senior engineer's greatest impact often comes not from being the deepest technical expert, but from having enough context across multiple domains (marketing, PR, engineering) to act as a translator. They synthesize information and help teams with deep expertise navigate complex, cross-functional decisions.
High-performing ICs shouldn't view management as a one-way promotion. Instead, it's a temporary "tour of duty" taken on to solve a specific problem that has scaled beyond one person. The goal is to build a team, set a direction, and then transition back to an IC role to find the next challenge.
The role of a Principal Engineer isn't a checklist. It's the ability to be parachuted into a new, ambiguous domain, quickly understand the landscape, identify critical problems, and figure out how to apply their unique skills to solve them—all without explicit direction. If you have to ask for the job description, you're not ready.
During PostRank's acquisition by Google, the entire team, including the founder, had to go through the full, standard interview panel. This wasn't a formality; it was Google's core process for vetting talent quality and determining individual leveling, separate from the negotiation for the company's IP and assets.
Despite being on a clear track to Director, Ilya Grigorik chose a lateral, likely down-leveled move to an IC role. He traded guaranteed career progression for greater control over his time, the freedom to pursue deep technical interests, and the ability to work on problems he was passionate about.
Instead of aiming to be the best in one narrow field, build a more antifragile career by becoming 80% competent in several different domains (e.g., design, sales, engineering). The unique intersection of these skills makes you the "only" person who can solve certain complex problems, creating durable value.
Waterloo's unique program of alternating study and work terms gives students six chances to try different industries and company sizes. This removes the "job-hopping" stigma, provides practical engineering experience, and helps them discover their passions early, creating highly effective graduates.