TLDR Dev · OPINIONS & ADVICE

THE SENIOR ENGINEER DEATH SPIRAL

sunilpai.dev5 min read

Summary from the TLDR Dev newsletter

Senior engineers can spiral when they try to prove themselves through oversized solo projects, disappear for weeks, and compensate for slipping progress with longer hours. The way out is to reduce scope, share uncertainty early, ship small increments, and treat visible collaboration as senior behavior rather than a failure of competence.