Dear Alex, you’re not the problem.
After my post on the genius developer anti-pattern, the “Alexes” wrote back:
“I raised the risk. They said we’d fix it next quarter.” “I documented everything. Nobody read it.” “I asked for help. They gave me a title instead.”
If you’re the person everyone depends on, that’s not your fault. You didn’t fail to share knowledge. The system failed to create space for others to learn. And leadership failed to build structures that don’t require heroes.
You solved problems because problems needed solving. You stayed late because deadlines were real. You became the expert because someone had to be.
The trap isn’t that you’re too good. It’s that the organization optimized around your heroics instead of building systems that don’t require them.
Your value isn’t in being irreplaceable. It’s in what you could build if you weren’t constantly firefighting.
You can step back without stepping down. Start with one system. Document it. Hand it off. Protect your time for the work only you can do.
You deserve to work on hard problems because they’re interesting-not because everything will break if you don’t.
The cape was never the job description. You’re allowed to put it down.