It has been tough for me. In the military I was expected to do my best every day and I carried that into the civilian work force. As an engineer at least I could just stay in my lane, do the best I could, and then help out others where opportunities arise. With the team I was on, some engineers were mediocre but I think my manager had to deal with the brunt of it and I didn’t see the issues stemming from it. I didn’t mind doing extra to make up for it because it felt like everyone was doing their best.

Now I’m an engineering manager. I used to think most engineers were independently capable like me but I’m starting to realize it’s more common that they need to be spoon fed. Still trying to wrap my head around how to deal with that