[vladgur]

Am I the only one that finds nothing positive about the term “rock star” in when applied to people you work with?

I want to work with smart and accommodating individuals who are team players.

None of these qualities are what we expect of rock stars. When I hear “rock star” - I fear a cult of one.

[reillyse]

You are 100% correct, nobody wants to work with a "rock star" on a team. When I hear "rock star" I think diva. The best teams are made up of a group of competent people who get on with each other and do great work together - not a team where one or more people are god's gift and the others are subordinates. That kind of scenario doesn't last too long.

[hermitShell]

Very much agree, I first encountered the idea of an engineering team ‘diva’ or ‘prima donna’ on the zipcpu blog. The archetype immediately resonated with me because I could see it in myself and in others, especially the high potential, high talent people. Fortunately I work for a team full of high performers and I can learn a lot from them and get along just fine, because above all we are kind to one another. We also happen to kick ass and ship systems but it’s a lot more fun to do it with a team you can genuinely like working for. I am the team lead but all the important results come from ICs so I work for them, really.

[lazystar]

thats a management problem. if management treats someone like a rock star, the team takes notice and reacts accordingly.