"Bad devs are devs who just haven't spent as much time thinking about software" I would say they lack the character to overcome their flaws... lack of intellec

"Bad devs are devs who just haven't spent as much time thinking about software" I would say they lack the character to overcome their flaws... lack of intellectual curiosity and humility. I've worked with quite a few people with 10+ years of experience at large enterprise companies who were flat out dangerous to a project and had to be managed as to what they worked on. People with senior titles who were functioning at a junior level, who simply got the title due to the number of years of "experience". At one place I worked I literally saw a team form from the outcasts of other teams. All they did was copy translated strings into string tables and crystal reports and resize elements on screens in cases of overflow. It was literally data entry. All 5 were highly paid sr. developers. When layoffs started happening at that company they were one of the first groups to get axed... one of them I keep in touch with took two years to get a job, and another recently reached out to me asking for any leads. He hasn't worked in nearly 4 years. I gave him some tips for career development and self improvement, he didn't care, he just needed a job. "they probably don't consider themselves bad developers," That's a problem. Knowing your limits/flaws is pretty crucial, a bad developer tends to have an outsized view of their abilities. Conversely, good developers tend to battle imposter syndrome during periods of growth. "they sure as hell aren't sabotaging projects" Maybe not intentionally (or at least they view it that way), but incompetence has a funny way of dragging down a team. Not putting in the effort to properly understand the domain of the problem or the business model, architecting confusing/overwrought solutions which lack conceptual integrity, not communicating clearly on progress, trying to confuse instead of admitting they don't know, etc.