Your Mode = Your Strength: Which Engineer Are You?
Skyline Thinking #034
Ever notice how different engineers tackle the same problem in completely different ways? It's like each of us is wired to approach challenges from a unique perspective.
And that's a good thing.
Over the years, I’ve seen engineers fall into three general “modes” when solving problems. Once you recognize these modes, you’ll not only understand yourself better but also your team—and how to switch modes when needed.
To Founders and PMs - this blog will be helpful for you to recognize your engineers problem solving styles.
So, ready to meet the three engineers?
1. The Function-First Engineer
This engineer sees problems as a sequence of tasks—steps to follow, one after the other. They’re great at breaking things down into clear, logical processes. Their brain is always asking: “What does the system need to do?”
Their Approach:
They love mapping out functions, from high-level overviews down to the nitty-gritty details of each process. You’ll often find them diagramming workflows or setting up functions in code that do exactly what’s needed—efficiently and clearly.
Their Superpower: They break complex problems into simple, executable steps. When the team is stuck in the weeds, the function-first engineer says, “Wait, let’s just walk through this step-by-step.” Boom, clarity!
Their codes are elegant, all things are organized as reusable functions.
2. The Object-Oriented Engineer
Then there’s the engineer who thinks in terms of things—objects, entities, or models. They don’t just see what needs to be done; they see who is doing it and how they’re interacting. This engineer loves to ask: “What are the key entities in this system, and how do they relate to each other?”
Their Approach:
In software, they’re the ones organizing everything into neat, reusable objects with clear properties and behaviors. They’re thinking long-term: "How can I structure this so it’s easy to scale and modify later?"
Their Superpower: They create systems that are modular, flexible, and easy to expand. When the project grows beyond its original scope, the object-oriented engineer’s careful planning pays off.
Their entity structure design is battle tested, since proper data fields and relationship design make so much easy for downstream function design and data flow design. Sometime, the magic is indeed with 1 move to connect 1 missing link.
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3. The Data-Driven Engineer
Finally, we have the engineer who lives and breathes data. For them, solving problems is all about optimizing how data is stored, processed, and transferred. They’re laser-focused on making systems fast and efficient by getting the data flow just right. Their main question: “How is the data structured and how does it move?”
Their Approach:
These engineers are obsessed with data insights—whether it’s tweaking a database query for new discovery or ensuring data pipelines can handle massive volumes. They love to share what data can influence our decisions.
Their Superpower: They back up their discovery and insights with data. Be ready to listen their methodological pitch with numbers, patterns, and insights. This is the engineer makes inter-systems connected and tap into unlimited domain the original system wasn't designed for.
Working with the data needs a lot of patience. The best engineers are like detectives understand noises and signals, facts and insights, triggers and actions.
Which Mode Are You In?
Here’s the fun part: None of these modes is better than the others. In fact, the best engineers know how to switch mode depending on the challenge at hand. Are you stuck thinking in functions when you really need to step back and model the objects? Or are you focused on data flow when a simpler functional breakdown would do?
Think about the last problem you worked on. What was your approach? Was it more function-first, object-oriented, or data-driven? And did you ever feel like you were hitting a wall?
Time to Switch Mode!
Next time you’re deep in a problem and feeling stuck, ask yourself:
If you find yourself gravitating toward one mode, try switching it up! If you’re all about functions, pause and think about how the objects relate to each other. If you’re buried in data, zoom out and walk through the problem step-by-step.
Final Thought: Your Mode = Your Strength
Every engineer has a natural mode of thinking, but the magic happens when you know when to switch. Mastering all three modes can turn you into a problem-solving powerhouse.
So, what’s your mode? And when are you going to switch it up?