[ElFitz]

Once heard a VP of engineering at Comcast.

One of the key points was that in engineering not everyone enjoys the same thing.

Some people like to begin new things, getting from nowhere to somewhere, to something that's functional enough. The excitement of going where no man has been before.

Others seem to enjoy taking something that's functional but not enough fully-fledged to a fully working product. Iterating on it, improving it. And the comforting knowledge that whatever you are attempting definitely is possible, doable.

And apparently, there even are a few who seem to enjoy the seemingly endless grind of the finishing touches. These elusive "last 10%"

People who truly enjoy going through all three, taking a product, a team, a company, not from 0 to 1 or 1 to 90 but from 0 to 100, do appear to be quite rare.

[notacoward]

Good point. I've seen a few metaphors for this. Commandos, grunts, and MPs. Explorers, settlers, and caretakers. Scientists, engineers, and archivists. No matter what metaphor you choose, the last seems to be the least popular and practically nobody wants to do (or is good at) all three. I've worked three times with a guy who's a fantastic #3, nicely complementing my own #1/#2 tendencies. It's another good axis for people to think about, and understand their own preferences. Thanks.