He is, in summary, a rock star.

Which is probably as much a function of the culture set up by management as it is individual character flaws. If the management culture is “hey, we all do what we can, we’re human, this is a grand experiment, do what you want, as you want, we’re a forgiving, organic, living, breathing experiment after all” then that’s fairly easily interpreted as “oh, OK, so I’ll do what I want and when I lose interest not really do it anymore” although you’ll still have your Sidewinder exceptions who likely had strict parents and an insane desire to please.

Permission to fail is one of the needed virtues of a company, especially a technology one. Permission to fail because of lack of trying, hubris, or being inconsiderate of your customers should be a virtue that gets you kicked out the door.

Will be interesting to see who M kicks out first.

o he’s a grown-up among kids
o he follows up — relentlessly
o he plans his work and works his plan
o he reports on what he’s doing, warts and all — which is supposed to be the spirit of their wacky hippie system there but none of them ever do it

In short, Sidewinder is worth his weight in gold in that outfit. Yes, it would be good to clone him — except people like this get this way not by being clones, but by being individuals who take responsibility.

It’s that failure to take responsibility that haunts most of them.