Maybe it says more about the places I worked in than my preferences, but IME the software issues rarely require superhuman engineering ability. Rather, the exc

Maybe it says more about the places I worked in than my preferences, but IME the software issues rarely require superhuman engineering ability. Rather, the excellent SEs have taken moderately complex problems and solved them very well. Maybe not super fast, but the solution worked first time, worked under the anticipated load, was very debuggable, easy to extend and futureproof. Where the spec was ambiguous, wise decisions were taken. Or more generally, what you get back is better than what you asked for. The converse is clear. You get something, maybe quickly, maybe not. But it takes weeks and months of snagging, doesn't quite do what is required, and at the first sight of adding some basic features, it turns out to be impossible.