How wide should the "T" be?
If you're not familiar with the term, T-Shaped Engineer is someone who has surface level knowledge of a lot of domains but specializes in only one.
I've had an argument with my coworker. The company we work for makes a lot of stupid decisions. We both have different opinions on it and I want to know what the expectation in the industry is.
He says, "when someone comes to you with a request, you must first understand why they need it, and how it helps the business. You should question them and try to architect your solution in a way that causes less work for you in the future."
I say, "I'm a software engineer. Analysing business needs and validating strategy is neither something I'm qualified nor responsible for. I just build what the stakeholder wants me to build."
I want to know what the standard for a software engineer is. I'm stuck at L1 for 6 years and my coworkers say that this might be the reason.
Note: I think I am T shaped, I have general knowledge of many technical domains. But I don't know much about running a business or what a business needs.