This strikes me more of a social/maturity issue. I can relate myself from when I was younger and thought I was the best programmer around. Even if that was the

This strikes me more of a social/maturity issue. I can relate myself from when I was younger and thought I was the best programmer around. Even if that was the case (it wasn't) it doesn't matter much if you can't communicate and get along with your teammates. I thought "my work should speak for itself" and "quality over everything else" One of the biggest lessons of corporate life is that how you behave and communicate will have a disproportional effect on your success. Doesn't matter how good you are if no one knows it, likes you, or people find you troublesome. You have to pick your fights, know when you to compromise, and how to put forth suggestions without stepping on anyones toes. Sometimes the decisions and output of other people can be truly baffling but you still need to manage them with strategy and grace. Just being a good human being, friend and colleague will get you far, as long as you can be forceful when needed an appropriate. If you really is more experienced then becoming a good mentor is a skill in itself. You don't want to be an arrogant ass that is perceived as being "more than everyone else" Another thing is understanding the trade-offs between clever code/maintainable code. Even good programmers have a tendency for over designing and/or over complicating stuff until they become more mature.