> everything that I have done is being scrutinized by all new team members. It's really hard to deal with that constant barrage of "why did you do it this way"
Reading old code with a critical eye is an important part of working on a mature code base.
If an arrogant developer reads some questionable code, they will think "the author must have been stupid." They will ask this question as a way to satisfy their narcissism.
If a thoughtful developer finds some questionable code, they will think "the author must have had some motivation that I don't know about." They will ask this question to help them understand the system design and do better work.
Both attitudes lead to the same question. You could start by assuming your new team members are thoughtful and want to learn. They will understand that "we were under time pressure" or "we didn't know about xxxx technique" is a valid answer to "why did you do it this way."
If you discover that your new team members have narcissistic tendencies, then you have a much bigger problem than justifying your own past decisions.
Reading old code with a critical eye is an important part of working on a mature code base.
If an arrogant developer reads some questionable code, they will think "the author must have been stupid." They will ask this question as a way to satisfy their narcissism.
If a thoughtful developer finds some questionable code, they will think "the author must have had some motivation that I don't know about." They will ask this question to help them understand the system design and do better work.
Both attitudes lead to the same question. You could start by assuming your new team members are thoughtful and want to learn. They will understand that "we were under time pressure" or "we didn't know about xxxx technique" is a valid answer to "why did you do it this way."
If you discover that your new team members have narcissistic tendencies, then you have a much bigger problem than justifying your own past decisions.