According to Kent Beck's newsletter, when you hire junior developers, you're not paying them to execute a task list — you're investing in their ability to understand the work. The piece argues that new hires often focus on shipping features quickly, but what companies actually need is people who ask why before how. Beck suggests that the best onboarding isn't about solving bottlenecks; it's about building judgment and instinct. Junior engineers who learn to think critically about problems — not just solve them — become the engineers who solve bigger problems later.

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