Senior Engineers Think in Systems, Not Tasks

Tasks Are Easy. Systems Are Hard.

Junior and mid-level engineers focus on what needs to be built. Senior engineers obsess over what will break.

This isn't pessimism. It's experience.

How Senior Engineers Think Differently

• Second-Order Effects: Every change has consequences. Performance, security, operability.
• Time as a Constraint: The best solution today may be the wrong one in six months.
• Human Factors: Code is read more than it's written. Clarity beats cleverness.

"Good engineers solve problems. Great engineers prevent them."

Seniority is less about years and more about judgment.