Artifact: Growth Plan — Maya, Engineer to Senior Engineer
A growth plan naming strengths, gaps, and next-level behaviors -- exercises co-05, co-06. Everline and every name here are fictional; every quote is an illustrative, constructed example.
Strengths (keep doing): ships reliably within estimate on well-scoped tasks; writes tests that actually catch the bugs she's worried about, not just tests that pass.
Gaps mapped to next-level behaviors:
- Gap: doesn't yet propose the technical approach before starting work -- waits to be told the design. Next-level behavior (per the Senior Engineer ladder rung): "proposes a design approach for a multi-day task before writing code, and can defend a trade-off in it."
- Gap: rarely reviews other engineers' PRs unless assigned. Next-level behavior: "reviews at least 2-3 PRs a week beyond assigned ones, catching design issues, not just style."
Next step: for the next task-sized project, Maya writes a one-page design note before coding and brings it to a 1:1 for feedback -- practicing the exact next-level behavior named above.
Last updated July 17, 2026