i’ve managed a few. its generally one of the following:
1. they have potential, but consistently get in their own way. they need therapy or a new career path, which is outside of the scope of a managers job to correct.
2. some engineers are not that talented. even the most senior of ICs can plateau — some just do it at lower levels.
3. some have no ambition to improve or aren’t invested in their jobs and no amount of cajoling or incentives will fix it.
