Also, we are again defaulting to assume that Pat is the problem here. He's likely an average software engineer, and if not then we've done a terrible job at edu

Also, we are again defaulting to assume that Pat is the problem here. He's likely an average software engineer, and if not then we've done a terrible job at education, hiring, or promotion, which again is not necessarily his fault. The problem is the system, and certification would potentially resolve some aspects, but he still could be ranking himself incorrectly against other engineers and therefore we might be right back to square one.