Software engineering is about solving problems. You get hired, start working, and solve problems. Time passes and you get better at solving these problems, so your company gives you harder problems in the same domain space. Eventually you get so good at solving these problems in that you become The Guy. “Oh you have a question about the FooWidget manager tool? Ask Joe, he’s the FooWidget guy.” By definition, being The Guy has mean you’ve reached a local maxima of productivity in the company.
It also means you’re bored. It’s not a case of possibly being bored, or eventually becoming bored. Once you are are no longer a problem solver, that means you’re bored, and if you’re bored at your current company for long enough, eventually you’ll find a new company to work for.
Companies talk a lot about retention, but rather than wring their hands about salaries and titles, they’d do well to look at their engineers and ask a simple question: “Who is bored, and what can we do about that?”
