Excerpt from Python for DevOps / What Does DevOps Mean to the Authors?

At one company, Noah had a project that was over a year late, and the web application had been rewritten three times in multiple languages. This next release only needed a “performance engineer” to get it finished. I remember being the only one brave or stupid enough to say, “What is a performance engineer?” This engineer made everything work at scale. He realized at that point that they were looking for a superhero to save them. Superhero hiring syndrome is the best way to pick up on something being very wrong on a new product or a new startup. No employee will save a company unless they first save themselves.

it turned out that the real issue was inadequate technical supervision. The wrong people were in charge (and verbally shouting down the people who could fix it). By removing a poor performer, listening to an existing team member who knew how to fix the problem all along, deleting that job listing, doing one right thing at a time, and inserting qualified engineering management, the issue resolved itself without a superhero hire.

The solution to the problem isn’t a new hire; it is being honest and mindful about the situation you are in, how you got there, and doing one right thing at a time until you work your way out. There is no superhero unless it is you.