Agreed, that was similar to what I've seen with other programmers and with my only education. I profited greatly by taking engineering courses for a while, and

Agreed, that was similar to what I've seen with other programmers and with my only education. I profited greatly by taking engineering courses for a while, and they teach how to problem solve. I've also observed that others who have had a similar experience do well with problem solving (but also those with math background, which is counterintuitive to me). Small sample sizes for both, but they have been pretty consistent.