--- title: the senior engineer death spiral | daily.dev description: A senior engineer describes a common failure pattern he calls the 'senior engineer death spiral': someone taking on a bigger role or project overcompensates by... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/1emdohu0e twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: the senior engineer death spiral | daily.dev og:description: A senior engineer describes a common failure pattern he calls the 'senior engineer death spiral': someone taking on a bigger role or project overcompensates by... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/1emdohu0e og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/1emdohu0E.png og:image:alt: Post cover image og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # the senior engineer death spiral **[Kahlil Wallace](https://daily.dev/sources/7eqfesqrdx0muv3n92gxt)** · [@khauma](https://daily.dev/khauma) · 85 upvotes · 13 comments ## Summary A senior engineer describes a common failure pattern he calls the 'senior engineer death spiral': someone taking on a bigger role or project overcompensates by disappearing to work on an overly ambitious effort alone, gives vague positive updates, spirals into secrecy and overwork, and eventually burns out, gets PIP'd, or quits. The advice given to a friend starting a new senior role is to resist the urge to prove oneself through heroics, instead 'drop a level,' become visibly helpful to teammates on small tasks, shift from an outcome-based to a momentum-based mindset, and build trust and reliability through steady daily work rather than big bursts of effort. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Community discussion Top comments from developers on daily.dev. **@coppnic** · 9 upvotes > Very true article. The main task, in my opinion, is, to find the perfect balance for oneself of whats steady "daily work" (as work is almost never daily in a devs life) and outlining the borders to "big bursts of effort". **@phlisg** · 7 upvotes > Very interesting. I had this mental model that I could "build anything" (somewhat enhanced by "AI"), but over the years of experience I noticed that it'd be the little things that help, as in building and keeping that momentum. > > > But I got despaired when I was task with bigger challenges, was sent to partners to discuss technical outcomes, while only having a team of two and work for four. Time away from the computer is chiseling the momentum. Quite a difficult balance to find, and also an opportunity to ask for help, either for additional resources either for offloading. **@h2onock** · 3 upvotes > > "they start disappearing for longer periods of time" > > How does any team allow that to happen!? **@micahnorwoodjordan** · 3 upvotes > imo this is a **_very_** junior trap to fall into. i almost exclusively did things like this when i was younger. i think the trick is knowing WHEN to reach out for help. > > sometimes, a 30-second slack huddle or 5-second ping is the difference between being blocked for a few hours vs a few weeks (ask me how i know 🤕) **@ypk46** · 2 upvotes > I totally get what the article is saying, and while this can happen in any job, I think software engineers might be more likely to get caught in this cycle because our work often focuses on results. > > > Recognizing this pattern is a super valuable skill, and in my opinion, using it to help a coworker who’s been caught in this can really help you move up to the next level or get a promotion. ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Governing Security in the Age of Infinite Signal](https://daily.dev/posts/governing-security-in-the-age-of-infinite-signal-qhihbir44) · Snyk · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [No one has a good plan for how AI companies should work with the government](https://daily.dev/posts/no-one-has-a-good-plan-for-how-ai-companies-should-work-with-the-government-nkajqoze1) · TechCrunch · 0 upvotes · 1 comments --- Tags: [#career](https://daily.dev/tags/career), [#leadership](https://daily.dev/tags/leadership), [#remote-work](https://daily.dev/tags/remote-work) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/1emdohu0e) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"DiscussionForumPosting","mainEntityOfPage":"https://daily.dev/posts/1emdohu0e","headline":"the senior engineer death spiral","text":"Shared: the senior engineer death spiral","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/1emdohu0e","datePublished":"2026-09-22T17:38:23.718Z","dateModified":"2026-09-22T17:39:28.182Z","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Kahlil Wallace","url":"https://daily.dev/khauma","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--QvppE9Ip--/f_auto/v1767378558/avatars/avatar_7eQFeSQRDx0muV3n92gxT?_a=BAMAK+ZW0","description":"A nerd who loves software development but is down for longboarding, bouldering or martial arts!","worksFor":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Yellow Duck Technologies","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--sJ49BN2f--/f_auto,q_auto/v1782805767/logos/yellow-duck-technologies?_a=BAMAMicg0"},"interactionStatistic":{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"EndorseAction"},"userInteractionCount":14080}},"image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--58gMhC4P--/f_auto/v1722860399/public/Placeholder%2012","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":85},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":13}],"sharedContent":{"@type":"WebPage","url":"https://api.daily.dev/r/TmEtunrVm"},"comment":[{"@type":"Comment","text":"Very true article. The main task, in my opinion, is, to find the perfect balance for oneself of whats steady “daily work” (as work is almost never daily in a devs life) and outlining the borders to “big bursts of effort”.","datePublished":"2026-09-22T20:59:16.477Z","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/1emdohu0E#c-qSnAKqxlO","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"coppnic","url":"https://daily.dev/coppnic","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--8VyNl1cb--/f_auto/v1732889303/avatars/avatar_z5bNZJIOpNguomDjmmrE2"},"interactionStatistic":{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":9}},{"@type":"Comment","text":"Very interesting. I had this mental model that I could “build anything” (somewhat enhanced by “AI”), but over the years of experience I noticed that it’d be the little things that help, as in building and keeping that momentum.\nBut I got despaired when I was task with bigger challenges, was sent to partners to discuss technical outcomes, while only having a team of two and work for four. Time away from the computer is chiseling the momentum. Quite a difficult balance to find, and also an opportunity to ask for help, either for additional resources either for offloading.","datePublished":"2026-09-23T06:07:18.624Z","dateModified":"2026-09-23T06:08:07.164Z","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/1emdohu0E#c-Y08Jia3Ju","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Phlisg","url":"https://daily.dev/phlisg","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--FN_ynnjb--/f_auto/v1755006303/avatars/avatar_Y1klcvmY0LiikjVFthCLU?_a=BAMClqZW0"},"interactionStatistic":{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":7}},{"@type":"Comment","text":"“they start disappearing for longer periods of time”\n\nHow does any team allow that to happen!?","datePublished":"2026-09-23T08:26:05.596Z","dateModified":"2026-09-23T08:26:32.010Z","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/1emdohu0E#c-9Jw74BzWN","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"James","url":"https://daily.dev/h2onock","image":"https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/9485980?v=4"},"interactionStatistic":{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":3}},{"@type":"Comment","text":"imo this is a very junior trap to fall into. i almost exclusively did things like this when i was younger. i think the trick is knowing WHEN to reach out for help.\nsometimes, a 30-second slack huddle or 5-second ping is the difference between being blocked for a few hours vs a few weeks (ask me how i know 🤕)","datePublished":"2026-09-24T04:06:54.491Z","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/1emdohu0E#c-ic43TvBsV","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Micah Norwood","url":"https://daily.dev/micahnorwoodjordan","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--F7AsERgm--/f_auto/v1744468090/avatars/avatar_RkUh6L39HXCnFFgzyIq88"},"interactionStatistic":{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":3}},{"@type":"Comment","text":"I totally get what the article is saying, and while this can happen in any job, I think software engineers might be more likely to get caught in this cycle because our work often focuses on results.\nRecognizing this pattern is a super valuable skill, and in my opinion, using it to help a coworker who’s been caught in this can really help you move up to the next level or get a promotion.","datePublished":"2026-09-24T03:49:10.066Z","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/1emdohu0E#c-wkiZDTiBg","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Yuyi K","url":"https://daily.dev/ypk46","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--6re5SQ9b--/f_auto/v1790222033/avatars/avatar_ukeIWMyFRiLUPKHJ5ykBd?_a=BAMAMicg0"},"interactionStatistic":{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":2}}],"isPartOf":{"@type":"WebPage","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/7eqfesqrdx0muv3n92gxt","name":"Kahlil Wallace"}} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Kahlil Wallace","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/7eqfesqrdx0muv3n92gxt"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"the senior engineer death spiral"}]} ```