That coworker who just wants to code

(This is a sequel to “That coworker who never stops refactoring“).

Steve is productive as hell. He writes solid code and gets crap done. He knows the codebase better than anyone. He’s even a skilled teacher, as long as the topic is the code.

But Steve doesn’t give a crap about improving process or jelling or planning or anything else that isn’t writing code. He thinks retros and stand-ups and sprint planning are a waste of his time, and he multitasks during all of them. He wants to be left alone to do his job.

Steve is a bad apple.

If you manage Steve, fire him. I don’t care how valuable you think he is.

If you work alongside Steve, give him and his manager lots and lots of feedback.

If you are Steve, get your crap together. You’re killing your team.