Gregor OjstersekFounder & Author, Engineering Leadership newsletter

Why Engineering Is One of the Most Collaborative Careers in Tech #softwareengineering #techcareers

19 May 2025 · 1 min

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In this monologue, the speaker challenges the common misconception that engineering is solely about writing code. He emphasizes that successful engineers must cultivate strong people skills and adopt collaborative mindsets. Key practices highlighted include using code reviews to quickly unblock teammates, accelerating onboarding for new hires, treating disagreements as opportunities to co‑create the best solution, and actively empathizing with product managers, designers, and customers to understand their challenges, motivations, and needs. By putting oneself in others' shoes, engineers can design solutions that truly align with diverse perspectives, making engineering a highly collaborative career.

Chapters

Engineering really is one of the most collaborative fields. I assumed I would just code all day and that would be it. I was very wrong. A lot of engineers underestimate the importance of people skills. How can I deliver this solution? How can we deliver this solution together and learn from each other? You're treating code reviews as a way to help others. You review them swiftly because you wish to unblock your colleague. You are making sure a new person gets onboarded fast to the team. You're looking at disagreements as a way to find the best solution together. You're not trying to compete or trying to do whatever is possible so that your solution is the actual solution, but you're trying to understand based on pros and cons. This is especially important when you're talking with a product manager, a designer, or a customer. You wish to understand their challenges, their motivation, and their wants. That's how you can map the solution that would actually fit these perspectives. You are putting yourself in the shoes of others and understanding their perspective.