Neoengineers

neoengineer - noun

An individual, part of a resurgence, who embraces and respects the craft of engineering. Often enjoys solving hard problems.

I was recently introduced to the term "neoengineer", whose definition you will find above and in the attached blog post. It tickled my brain in a rare way.

For several years in a row, my New Year's resolution was to become "the most effective person possible". In some ways, that remains my primary resolution. To put it another way: I seek to become the most effective engineer possible.

I think what makes the term "neoengineer" so ticklish to my gray matter is that it draws a line between those who care about the craft and those who do not. What's more: the term does not make a lack of care seem like a bad thing. It is merely a difference in priorities.

You Can Choose to Be a Neoengineer

In the discourse, both within Automattic and at large, we constantly refer to some unquantifiable metric known as "productivity". We seek to optimize it and increase it to whatever extent possible. Why? Because we believe that it will make us more money, or bring us more prestige, or somehow even bring us happiness. I think we are focused on the wrong thing.

When we focus on "productivity" we are focusing on our output. But because it is inherently unquantifiable, we are unable to objectively monitor that output. Because there is no way to quantify it, it's impossible to know if we have improved our productivity or not, which results in one of two things.

In one situation, a person can believe an action, habit, or tool is more helpful than it really is. You see this all the time with vibe-coders. They find that they are able to produce a ton of stuff, but that stuff has zero to negative value, and thus no one consumes it. In this way, they waste a lot of time doing something that amounts to very little.

That is not a knock on vibe-coding. It's a knock on a failure to consider the value of an action properly.

In another situation, a person can believe an action, habit, or tool is less helpful than it really is. I see this often with under-planners. A person underestimates the value of doing research or producing a plan. They think, "I will just get started and pivot later if necessary". In this way, they spend less time doing something helpful than they should have.

If we change the frame of reference a little, we earn ourselves access to a neat mental trick. Instead of asking the question "does this tool make me more productive?", ask "would an effective engineer use this tool?" You may replace "this tool" with "this habit" or "this action".

When I do this, I find the answer changes drastically.

Would an effective engineer choose to learn a complex algorithm deeply, or would they choose the easy route and ask ChatGPT to write the code for them? They would choose the former, since it increases their personal level of skill and improves maintainability of the project long-term.

Would an effective engineer approve code that is difficult to read, so they can go ahead and allocate their mental energy to something more productive? No. They would give careful measured feedback or none at all. If something else is more important than reviewing the code, an effective engineer would do that other thing.

By choosing to adopt the identity of an effective engineer, I create a habit of choosing to do things an effective engineer would do. Even if I am not in fact, an effective engineer, I can come closer to becoming one by adopting that identity.

The Term Itself

The only issue I have with the term "neoengineer" is that when broken down, it means "new engineer". Neo- usually refers to something "new" or "young". So a "neoengineer" is a young engineer, perhaps of the latest generation.

The thing is, I do not think that the latest generation is the only generation who has cared about the craft of engineering. I believe that respect for the craft goes back thousands of years. If anything, it feels like forces are pushing the latest generation to care less about the craft than ever before.

As an aside, I highly recommend you check out Jonathan Blow's fabulous talk, Preventing the Collapse of Civilization. It's relevant, I promise.