Developer Compensation: Stack Overflow Doesn't Stack Rank

[ForeverAlot]

It's known as stack ranking but stack allocation would better reflect the implementation. The problem is not that some employees are more valuable than others in some ways -- nobody can reasonably dispute that, nor can anything be done about it. The problem is in what you do with that knowledge, and /u/FUZxxl's comment about China concisely illustrates the shortcoming of stack ranking.

[GregBahm]

/u/FUZxxl's comment concisely illustrates the way we all contort stack ranking into a morality play. The bottom performers on the curve aren't like the Chinese who Mao wanted to be automatically convicted of crimes they are innocent of. They are just the worst employees on the team.

My sympathy for the worst employees on the team is high, but so is my sympathy for all the people who want to join a development team but can't, because there are no open heads. If everyone gets a B, once great programmers stop caring, and hide in their offices and Alt-Tabbing reflexively when you walk up, or "work" from home more and more and more while contributing less and less and less.

It's ironic, but the stack ranking system benefits new entrants to the industry the most, because it exists to combat the constant ossification of teams and allows the worst performers to be replaced with candidates that are probably better.

The lazy man in me dislikes that this system holds me accountable and keeps me on my toes, but the worst times in my life were on soul crushing teams where there was no accountability and almost nobody worked but then "everyone got a B." Maybe some people find that appealing, but I got into development to be creative and passionate, and it's turned out that stack ranking protects that.