> That's like blaming someone for hiring an incompetent builder to build their house. Well, kinda, but kinda not, too. When people hire builders they often kn

> That's like blaming someone for hiring an incompetent builder to build their house. Well, kinda, but kinda not, too. When people hire builders they often know little/nothing about building a house and have a limited understanding of what quality building looks like. This company, hopefully, knew what habits a good programmer has (they must have because they eventually realized he didn't have them). Using your analogy, it'd be like a builder hiring a sub-contractor, relying on that sub-contractor to build the house in its entirety, allowing that sub-contractor to slip on the deadline by two years and when the builder went to check up on the sub-contractor, they discover the property has a kitchen, a foyer, a bunch of bedrooms but no roof or walls. Note that I'm not saying my analogy fits perfectly, nor that "Rick" was actually the negligent builder he's been painted out to be in this but it was as much a failure on the company's side especially when you consider that they've paid this individual for those years of work knowing that it's non-refundable, they're stuck with the house, and the only option they now have is to bulldoze the property and start over. A better approach would have been to step in much earlier and correct "Rick" or get rid of him before a two-year slip in a project could occur.