[lsc]

yeah. well, you need someone like you, and you need a manager who is good at communicating specs, and the manager needs to be okay that the end result will still be slightly different from his or her 'vision'

But yeah, it's pretty rare to have someone who keeps working hard on their own. it's more rare that the result looks anything like what the manager had in mind when they drafted the specs.

If you are one of those people, you should be able to charge a significant premium for your time. You are worth it. Now, the hard part here is that it's hard to prove you are one of those people without actually working for someone; still, if you are what you say you are, you should be able to build yourself a high-priced consulting business.