Too often, a clueless manager will ask us to do something incredibly hard – problems legions of phd’s have toiled on to no avail. Or they’ll avoid asking for something they think is hard but is actually trivial.

We also add value as teams, coaching each other and working on each other’s strengths. These are all difficult things to quantify.

Having tried rent-a-coder sites to outsource small jobs, I don’t think it’s worth it. We’re more than just piece workers, and our work is devalued when we focus on the details of our work.