My coworker got promoted over me.
He was worse at coding. Better at politics.
I wrote better code. Fixed more bugs. Shipped faster.
He talked in meetings. Took credit. Played the game.
He got the promotion. I got "keep up the good work".
That's when I realized: corporate rewards politics, not performance.
Six months later I quit. Started freelancing.
Now I make 3x his salary. No politics. No credit-stealing. Just solving problems and getting paid directly.
The best developers rarely get promoted. They get used.
Companies optimize for compliance and communication. Not competence.
If you're technically great but politically terrible, you'll never win at corporations.
Leave. Build your own thing. Get paid for your actual value.