5 engineering anti-patterns that limit your career

[music] Hey there. Have you ever been in a

Hey there. Have you ever been in a situation where you're working hard, but your projects feel stuck? Where your

team seems to be running around in circles? Well, don't worry. We've all

circles? Well, don't worry. We've all

been there. Often, the problem isn't a lack of effort, but the presence of invisible [music] habits that quietly sabotage our success. These are called

antiatterns. common solutions that seem

antiatterns. common solutions that seem like a good idea at first but end up causing more problems down [music] the line. Recognizing and avoiding them is

line. Recognizing and avoiding them is key to boosting your impact as an [music] engineer. The first step in

[music] engineer. The first step in overcoming these pitfalls is cultivating deep self-awareness. You can't fix what

deep self-awareness. You can't fix what you can't see unless your superpower is coding with your eyes closed. You have

to be able to see these patterns in yourself and your team before you can fix them. Let's dive into some of the

fix them. Let's dive into some of the most common ones. First up is one of the most dangerous antiatterns, the

knowledge silo. This happens when

knowledge silo. This happens when critical information about a system is locked away in the mind of a single person. We've all heard the phrase, "If

person. We've all heard the phrase, "If it hurts when you touch it, maybe don't touch it. A knowledge silo is the

touch it. A knowledge silo is the ultimate example. If only one engineer

ultimate example. If only one engineer can work on a service, your team has a major bottleneck and a single point of failure. So, how do you break down these

failure. So, how do you break down these silos? Well, it's all about making

silos? Well, it's all about making knowledge sharing an active, intentional part of your team's culture. You can't

just hope it happens on its own. Here

are a few recommendations.

Make writing documentation a standard part of your workflow. Take the time to pair program on complex tasks and

actively teach what you know to others.

Remember, sharing your knowledge is how you scale yourself and your team.

Closely related to the knowledge silo is another common trap, the hero complex or white knight syndrome. This is the person who always swoops in to save the

day when things go wrong. While their

intentions are often good, these heroic efforts create a culture of dependency.

Other team members don't get the chance to learn how to solve critical problems themselves, [music] and the hero inevitably burns out from the pressure.

The goal is to [music] go beyond heroics. Instead of relying on

heroics. Instead of relying on individuals, build resilient systems and processes. This [music] means spreading

processes. This [music] means spreading the load and knowledge across the entire team. You should actively push for

team. You should actively push for sustainable practices so that fires don't happen in the first place. And

when successes do happen, make sure you celebrate the team's achievement, not just the efforts of one individual [music] hero. Another classic antiattern

[music] hero. Another classic antiattern is overengineering. [music] As the

is overengineering. [music] As the famous saying goes, premature optimization is the root of all evil.

This is the temptation to build overly complex solutions for simple problems. Your code might work, but you get caught in a cycle of optimizing it before you

even know if it's necessary. This can

lead to bloated, slow, and hard to maintain systems. [music] The antidote to overengineering is to be pragmatic.

Always start with the customer experience and work backwards to the technology, not the other way around.

This means building what is needed now, not what you think you might need in the future. Use iterative development. Seek

future. Use iterative development. Seek

feedback early and often, and time box your optimizations so you don't fall down a rabbit hole. As engineers gain seniority, they often run into another

anti pattern, the inability to delegate.

It can feel faster to just do it yourself. But this creates a vicious

yourself. But this creates a vicious cycle. If you're too busy doing the work

cycle. If you're too busy doing the work to train others, you'll never have time to train them. And because they're not trained, you can't delegate. So, you're

stuck doing it all yourself. This is a trap that severely limits your own growth and the growth of your team.

Effective delegation is a skill and it's built on trust. You have to teach others and then trust them to do the work.

Empower them with clear guidelines. Use

pair programming as a teaching tool [music] and accept that 90% right from someone else is often better than 100%

right from only you. Finally, let's talk about the antiattern of keeping your head down. A lack of visibility. You

head down. A lack of visibility. You

might be [music] doing amazing work, but if no one knows about it, its impact is limited. Unfortunately, a get commit of

limited. Unfortunately, a get commit of saving the world one line at a time doesn't count as a status update. Your

work doesn't get mentioned in planning meetings, and your manager isn't sure what you're working on. This isn't about bragging. It's about ensuring your

bragging. It's about ensuring your contributions are seen and can influence the team's direction. The solution is to make your work visible. Share regular

updates [music] in team channels.

Document your accomplishments and demo your work whenever you can. Remember,

visibility is not vanity. It's ensuring

your work has the influence it should.

By recognizing these anti patterns in yourself and your teams, [music] you can start building healthier, more effective habits. This self-awareness is

effective habits. This self-awareness is the key to unlocking your full potential as an engineer. Well, that's all for now, folks. To learn more about building

now, folks. To learn more about building effective engineering habits, watch the rest of this series and subscribe. Stay

uptodate on the latest tips and tricks on being an effective engineer.