[stevelaz]

I can't agree more with this!

I followed option A in my career. I quit, went back to school to finish my degree and worked part time as a contractor for enough money to maintain my mortgage while in school.

Anyway, it is very important to learn to work closely with a team. It is also VERY important that you work with people that are SMARTER than you. IMHO, this is the best way to get proper mentor-ship and motivation to learn. I personally try to surround myself with people that are smarter than me.

Once you think that you know "everything" or that you're the smartest person in the room, it's time to change jobs. Because:

A) People won't like working with you

B) You'll stop learning new things since you already know everything.

update: spacing edits...

[franciscop]

> A) People won't like working with you ?

Why is this? If enough people follow the "work with people that are SMARTER than you", which I think it's really important and I hope a significant number of people follow, why wouldn't they like working with you?

[davemel37]

Thinking you know everything is a definitive sign that you do not! One of the first lessons you learn from experience is that what you thought would happen, doesn't.

In other terms, you have cognitive biases, emotional biases, and filters your brain uses as information you process goes from perception to short term memory to long term memory...and lots of things get lost in the process.

If someone isn't smart enough to realize his perception of what he knows is colored and influeneced by things outside his control...he probably hasnt had even close to enough experience to be humbled.

Don't be that guy!

[collyw]

Yep, the more I learn, the more I realize that I don't know.

[balabaster]

...and eventually you get to the point I have where you realize you don't actually know anything :P

[davemel37]

Reminds me of the saying, "a specialist is someone who knows more and more about less and less until they know practically everything about pretty much nothing."

[stevelaz]

It's when you start to think you know everything that people don't like to work with you. I haven't met that many people in my software career ~15yrs that have enjoyed working with a know-it-all.

You can of course be super smart at your job and know a TON, but when you start acting cocky and like you know everything it usually doesn't end well.

[jqm]

I can tolerate know-it-alls when they really do know a lot more about something than I do and are willing to share.

However in my experience, the majority of people with a know-it-all attitude are simply blowing hot air and trying to cover for the fact that they really aren't nearly as smart or knowledgeable as they would like to be.

Most truly smart and knowledgeable people I've met have been amazingly humble and usually fairly quiet about things. The qualities of quietness and humility lead to learning.