Honestly, I’d rather just be true to myself.

If you play the game too much, you risk ending up on teams full of “senior software architects” with 20 years of experience in event-driven microservices with TDD + CQRS + AI.

Or these days they’re probably vibe coding and writing RFCs with emojis.

Being true to myself has never paid a single bill or supported my addiction to food and shelter. I’m 51 and play the game with the best of them including the banal “thought leadership” bullshit.