There may be something to gather from this opinion piece, but I don't think the take away is "avoid getting As" in school. First, I feel I can speak anecdotall

There may be something to gather from this opinion piece, but I don't think the take away is "avoid getting As" in school. First, I feel I can speak anecdotally as an "in-between" academically. I was a "straight-A student", though never unwavering, through about middle high. I still did very well in senior high school, but my effort level wasn't high. I did pretty terribly in college, and I dropped out once I got employed writing Cold Fusion web sites. (I've been coding in one way or another since then, and have not had trouble being employed locally, but I am not your typical MEGACORP software engineer.) Having said that, I think the thing to learn here is that grades are just a mediocre indicator of anything at all. They can be achieved, but they shouldn't be a goal because they aren't an achievement in and of themselves. Your goals in education should be to "learn how to learn", "gain broad, reusable skills", and, yes, demonstrate that you can fit into organized environments where you're given a task and can work towards achieving your objective. (Some may say that our education system leans too hard in that direction.) If you're trying to learn how to learn, school is a reasonable medium for practicing that (and other) skills. Grades are not perfect, but they'll give you a rough indicator of your competence. Do not prioritize them so much that you sacrifice the other important elements of education and personal growth.