Whenever I am asked that in an interview, I am usually puzzled if their workplace is some sort of magic kingdom where great tasks are falling from the sky or I am missing some kind of skill to navigate my previous jobs and make my menial tasks more interesting.
This is all true to my experience but not just exclusive to hiring low performers (which I assume is wrong qualifier means here) but also to unsuitable fit, poorly management, failure to motivate a new hire (specially when hiring senior developers), etc.
There are few things that make Copenhagen attractive to own a Christiania bike:
1- Very flat city and mild climate, although wet sometimes.
2- The city if fairly small geographically.
3- Public transit is a bit slow.
4- Very high taxes on cars. When I compare to Malmö, I have the impression most people there own cars.
5- Vast majority of people I know who live outside Copenhagen main neighborhoods own a car. Bearing in mind that outside Copenhagen isn't that far in distance but enough to degrade commute and life style without a car.
I am sorry but I've noticed to be a bit different in Copenhagen. I've been living here for 3 years, and the number of cars have grown quite a lot to my perception, specially between families (maybe just because they are luxury cars and Teslas everywhere).
I am 36 have one little child and feel like I am missing a bit of the country because I don't have a car, even if I have made few trips by train.
Also, a lot of my decisions are now driving by whether it is a short walk distance from home or not. Public transport in Copenhagen is respectful but a bit slow in my opinion (I am from NY), specially if I want to go to the edge of the city or suburbs - which I might want when I decide to settle roots here and buy myself a home (prices in Copenhagen are all time high).
You're hitting on a point that drives a lot of the disconnects in these sorts of discussions.
There are a lot of places where you don't need to own a car or even have a drivers license. And you constrain your activities accordingly. You may rely to some degree on friends with cars (though this tends to become less and less practical as you get older). Or you rent cars as needed if you have a license.
But you probably just tend to forgo activities that involve driving out to the country every other weekend or hauling a lot of gear around or visiting people you can't get to easily with public transit.
As a visitor, I rarely have a rental car in SF (and never if I'm solely going to be in the city) for example. But it means I am going to be pretty much staying in the city rather than taking a hike somewhere for half a day. I do know a couple that live in SF without a car but they do short-term and longer-term rentals all the time.
There’s a world of difference between having a car and using it sparingly (or just renting one sparingly) and having to have a car for every goddamn thing in life. Many friends of mine back in my home country have cars, but they don’t need to drive if they want to say grab a snack at 11pm. For me however, the barrier of stepping out of my home is pretty high, and the decision to anything unplanned and unnecessary is usually why bother. I guess it’s different for people who enjoy driving, but I don’t.
You don't need to own a car to take weekend trips to the country or even a quick trip hauling some gear: just rent one. Here in the US, we have "Zipcar" which lets you rent a car on the spot for a short term; in Europe, I saw "Car2Go" which is probably similar.
>As a visitor, I rarely have a rental car in SF for example. But it means I am going to be pretty much staying in the city rather than taking a hike somewhere for half a day.
I'm in DC, and I've frequently gone on hikes outside the city and seen people drive to the trailhead in a Zipcar.
Did you quit being a manager or the company? (Honest question). From my observations, it is rare to work for someone as a manager and not succumb to upper management pressure.
I quit being a manager but kinda sideways stepped into a different senior (non management) role in the same company/department. I was quite lucky because I didn't really want to leave the company at the time. I just didn't want to be on the trajectory I was on.
It was kinda awkward initially, mostly for the people I had hired and been manager of who I was now colleagues with, but not for long. Hands down it was one of the best life decisions I've ever made. I feel as though the experience I gained helps me to perform my current role even better than I would otherwise be able to as I have an appreciation of the politics above me that I'd not have had I not been up there and back down again the way I have.
I am glad you could make this transition in the same company.
I've recently had to step down from a senior non-management role (tech lead) that my company forced into management tasks into it, specially things that no one else wanted to do. It didn't work and I ended up leaving the company. It was
hurtful because I left believing I had a lot to contribute and was motivated too.
I'm sorry your situation didn't work out as you'd have liked it to. It sounds a lot like the journey I took to be honest. I drifted from "Senior Developer" to "Lead Developer" into "Development Manager" as the company grew. Before I knew it I'd not written a line of code in over a year and all I did was attend lengthy meetings. I'd also have been very disappointed if I'd had to leave the company. I still had a lot to contribute to the business and the product we were working on, just not as a manager.
"It is easier to justify project delays to upper management when everyone in the team comes in on time, otherwise it becomes my liability as a manager". One good friend of mine, who I respected as engineer, after becoming engineer manager in a small company (less than 10 engs).
