Yeah, and the worst affected people in software are people who have their own determination and drive, but have it subjugated to 'playing by the rules', 'not running too far ahead of the weakest member of the team' etc etc. I'm lucky enough to have a design role in my current position, and have always worked fairly independently, in software deployments and the like.
I think that being an engineer in a large company does get a lot better once you become a manager, in that you gain a bit more control, but obviously it can still suck depending on the overall goals, how smart your superiors are, and how capable your team is.
Obviously, there are people who are very happy to have most responsibility taken from them, and who in return for a regular paycheck, just have to come and sit in a fabric box for 9 hours a day.
Sadly, the box warmers are not something you can put up with if you want to move quickly, and it seems like growth from a few 10's of employees to a few 100's seems to add disproportionately to the wrong category, unless you are very disciplined in hiring.
I think that being an engineer in a large company does get a lot better once you become a manager, in that you gain a bit more control, but obviously it can still suck depending on the overall goals, how smart your superiors are, and how capable your team is.
Obviously, there are people who are very happy to have most responsibility taken from them, and who in return for a regular paycheck, just have to come and sit in a fabric box for 9 hours a day.
Sadly, the box warmers are not something you can put up with if you want to move quickly, and it seems like growth from a few 10's of employees to a few 100's seems to add disproportionately to the wrong category, unless you are very disciplined in hiring.