[kokanee]

I worked at AMZN for a bit and the complexity is not exactly arbitrary; it's political. Engineers and managers are highly incentivized to make technical decisions based on how they affect inter-team dependencies and the related corporate dynamics. It's all about review time.

[sharpy]

I have seen one promo docket get rejected for doing work that is not complex enough... I thought the problem was challenging, and the simple solution brilliant, but the tech assessor disagreed. I mean once you see there is a simple solution to a problem, it looks like the problem is simple...

[bdbdkdksk]

I had a job interview like this recently: "what's the most technically complex problem you've ever worked on?"

The stuff I'm proudest of solved a problem and made money but it wasn't complicated for the sake of being complicated. It's like asking a mechanical engineer "what's the thing you've designed with the most parts"

[gchamonlive]

That's what arbitrary means to me, but sure, I see no problem calling it political too

[AtlasBarfed]

Forced attrition rears its head again