Economic Thinking

At Level 1, economic thinking isn't really on your radar yet—and that's totally okay. Your focus is on delivering technically correct work and learning the ropes of the team and product. If financial implications cross your mind, it's usually because someone else brought them up. This level is about developing awareness: that code has cost, time is money, and not all solutions are created equal—even if they work.

At Level 2, you're not just aware that engineering has economic implications—you're starting to factor them in. You ask questions about impact, make an effort to understand scope, and consider whether the juice is worth the squeeze. You may not make product trade-offs yourself, but you know when to raise your hand and say, "Is this worth it?" That's a sign of growing judgment.

At Level 3, economic thinking becomes part of your default approach. You routinely factor in cost, complexity, and timing when evaluating options. You're not just building things right—you're helping decide the right things to build. You balance short-term wins with long-term impact. You know that technical debt isn't always bad—and shipping too slowly can be. You don't need to be in charge of prioritization to speak up when effort and value feel out of sync.

At Level 4, you lead by designing for leverage. You think in terms of systems—not just code—and ask how to make efficiency and value part of the defaults. You help your team avoid waste not through micromanagement, but by building the right guardrails, rituals, and incentives. You model sound decision-making, build frameworks others can follow, and guide the team toward high-value investment. You think about team time the way a founder thinks about runway.

At Level 5, you shape how the organization sees value. You bring clarity to what's worth doing, and what's not, across teams, products, or even the company. You're the one asking, "What's the most important thing we aren't doing?" You don't just participate in strategic conversations—you change their shape. You build cultural alignment around investment, risk, and payoff. You use influence, not just authority, to help others make better decisions with time, talent, and resources.