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I know a guy that could be described like this. He's a great programmer and he doesn't follow anyone else's rules but his own. And if you don't like it he'll te

I know a guy that could be described like this. He's a great programmer and he doesn't follow anyone else's rules but his own. And if you don't like it he'll tell you, politely, why you're wrong and why you should shove off because he's never going to do what you want him to. He has very little patience for meetings, paperwork, or typical processes that don't add anything to the software we're building. When I first worked with him close to 20 years ago, he was fired very quickly. Reason? Because he took our Windows machines and installed Linux on them. Now that might be cowboy to some but in his mind he was helping us. Windows was shit in his mind and he was saving us. Doing the right thing trumped the consequences in his opinion. I gotta say, he's had a tumultuous career, but he still manages to get paid more than I do and do whatever the hell he feels like. And he's made a lot of people a lot of money because of his ways.

crimsonalucard 12y ago
Switching jobs often gives you more opportunity to raise your salary.
- oofabz 12y ago
  But it drops your political capital to zero because now you're the new guy.
  - count 12y ago
    Depends on if you were recruited or if you applied for the job. If someone is working to get you in, you come out of the gate with some political capital...
k0 12y ago
There is a level that some employees and consultants reach where "Seniority" is no longer relevant, whether the Consultant is brought into the company either as a Contractor or as an Employee. When I'm brought in it is because no one at the company knows how to fix something, install something, and/or scale something. It doesn't matter how long I have or haven't been with the company, I get it done. I have been fired/terminated because the "Manager" was afraid he'd lose his job or have me promoted above him. I could give two shakes if you've been at a company for 15+ years and have "Seniority" over me. I have vast, real-world experience...you have your very narrow problem set of experience that culminated in not knowing how to do something that resulted in bringing me in. The differences are rarely, if ever, spoken aloud, but are confirmed daily. Sorry, I'm feeling very wolfish today.

crimsonalucard 12y ago

Switching jobs often gives you more opportunity to raise your salary.

oofabz 12y ago
But it drops your political capital to zero because now you're the new guy.
- count 12y ago
  Depends on if you were recruited or if you applied for the job. If someone is working to get you in, you come out of the gate with some political capital...

k0 12y ago

There is a level that some employees and consultants reach where "Seniority" is no longer relevant, whether the Consultant is brought into the company either as a Contractor or as an Employee. When I'm brought in it is because no one at the company knows how to fix something, install something, and/or scale something. It doesn't matter how long I have or haven't been with the company, I get it done. I have been fired/terminated because the "Manager" was afraid he'd lose his job or have me promoted above him. I could give two shakes if you've been at a company for 15+ years and have "Seniority" over me. I have vast, real-world experience...you have your very narrow problem set of experience that culminated in not knowing how to do something that resulted in bringing me in. The differences are rarely, if ever, spoken aloud, but are confirmed daily. Sorry, I'm feeling very wolfish today.