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Comment by xiphias2 | Hacker News Reader

This is just not true, people get promoted for delivering impact whether the solution is complex or simple.

The best engineer I know who can work with huge complex systems in a big company usually starts with a complex solution then after he understands what he wants to achieve thinks backwards and reimplements it in the fewest possible lines of code change with the already complex system.

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There's exception and geniuses to every rule. In general however a simple solution will be much more difficult to argue a promotion around even if you make a ton of impact. You may get a top rating and a slightly larger bonus however not a promotion.

Every large company has a ladder for promotions that includes many words that basically come down to "complex." "Drive a year long initiative" or "multiple teams" or "large complex task with multiple components" are all examples I've seen.

Yeah that large company promo thing drives me nuts. Perpetual gaslighting "meh... that was too easy lel". Yeah thanks. Often stuff isn't easy but hard to explain why if the solution turned out to look easy.

What is funny is you can dance through the hoops for 3-5 years for promo. Or grind leet for 100 hrs and get it by jumping.

Was going to say something like this. If you're good at keeping things simple, it will help you deliver impact which can get you promoted.

I’m here to support both of your statements. This is absolutely true from orgs the size of FAANG to startups because I’ve worked at both. Sure smooth talkers get promoted but so do smart people who make things work better by simplifying.

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