You Shouldn’t Always Be The Expert

By the time you read this, I will be deep in Glacier National Park as part of a week-long photography workshop with talented professionals in landscape and nature photography. For seven days, I will eat, drink, and breathe the art of composition, be concerned with chasing light, wrestle with my camera gear, and learn how to edit photos better. Most importantly, for this week, I won't be considered the expert in the room.

As I write this, I am furiously trying to tie up all of my loose ends, including this newsletter. At work, I have positioned myself as the de facto expert on software engineering and design. My opinions are considered more highly than others, whether that's fair or not. I have built this reputation over the years by making big mistakes, learning from them, and leading teams to build big and complicated things.

I am most in my element during a design review meeting where SDEs have provided a written document about what they want to do and how they intend to achieve their…