The best coworker I've ever had was a CTO who was well known for being grumpy. He leaned into it, with a Darth Vader head on his desk, an internal email signatu

The best coworker I've ever had was a CTO who was well known for being grumpy. He leaned into it, with a Darth Vader head on his desk, an internal email signature identifying him as "CTO, Grumpiness," etc. When I actually started working with him on projects, I realized he was unbelievably kind. He taught me most of what I know about software project management and designing architectures. Over the course of a few years, I spent dozens of hours in his office with him going over problems and possible solutions on his whiteboard and making sure I understood, followed by me watching him code a quick proof of concept.