It is wider than just HN. At work, IC tends to be the term used by management. Mostly I think it came with "agile" and the attempt to stop "not my job" responses to getting stuff done.
I think it's the complete opposite - IC was created (rightfully IMO) by technical contributors to reject the idea that the only way to progress in your career and make a bigger impact is to go into management. It's just the recognition of a parallel career path
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It is wider than just HN. At work, IC tends to be the term used by management. Mostly I think it came with "agile" and the attempt to stop "not my job" responses to getting stuff done.
I think it's the complete opposite - IC was created (rightfully IMO) by technical contributors to reject the idea that the only way to progress in your career and make a bigger impact is to go into management. It's just the recognition of a parallel career path
If that was its purpose it failed. Many (most?) companies have no progression path other than management, but they'll happily call you an IC.
It’s nothing to do with Agile. It’s just a short way to say “employees who are not managers.”