Remember that feature you poured your heart and soul into for months? The one that increased user engagement by 200%? Yeah, that one. Who got the credit in the company-wide email?
If you’re lucky, maybe you got a mention in the third paragraph. More likely, it was all about how the “product team’s innovative design” or the “marketing team’s brilliant campaign” led to this success.
Don’t get me wrong - those teams deserve credit too. But it often feels like developers are the invisible engine powering the whole operation, doesn’t it?
Non-technical folks often underestimate the complexity of what we do. They see the end product - a button on a screen, a form that submits data - and think it’s simple. They don’t see the hours of planning, the careful architecture, the security considerations, and the countless edge cases we have to account for.
This misunderstanding leads to unrealistic expectations and, you guessed it, more blame when things inevitably don’t go as smoothly as everyone hoped.
The Unsung Heroes of Tech
Look, I get it. This imbalance can be frustrating. There are days when I wonder if it would be easier to train squirrels to code than to get proper recognition for our work.
But here’s the thing: we’re the backbone of the digital world. Every app, every website, every piece of software that makes modern life possible - that’s us. We might not always get the credit we deserve, but we know the truth.
We’re the wizards behind the curtain, the unsung heroes of the tech world. And while it would be nice to get a parade now and then, there’s also something pretty cool about being part of this secret club of people who make the impossible happen every day.
So next time you’re pulling your hair out over a bug at 2 AM, remember: you’re part of something bigger. You’re shaping the future, one line of code at a time. And some of us, at least, know just how awesome that is.