The unemployable genius (engineer)
There is a fascinating archetype in the modern workplace: the genius that cannot and will not fit into traditional employment structures. These are the people companies desperately need but can rarely keep.
They cannot be managed
Great people don't need to be managed -- they need to be led. Management itself is a sign you've hired wrong. The truly exceptional are self-motivated and will figure out how to contribute once they know the direction. They take ownership at a level that makes traditional management obsolete.
They are artists disguised as engineers
Every great engineer is also an artist. They can't help but make things beautiful, even when no one asked them to. The designers obsessively design their own book bindings and office space. The engineers create world-class artwork on the side. They cannot 80% anything -- it physically pains them to create something shoddy.
They break every corporate rule
The best people are not cogs in a machine. They don't fit into neat rules or compensation brackets. To get them, you must break rules around commuting, equity, titles, reporting structures and working hours. Their multidisciplinary beings temporarily disguising their identity as "engineer" but capable of anything.
They generate knowledge compulsively
If someone isn't creating new knowledge, they're essentially a robot who's work should be automated. The unemployable genius distills insight from every iteration, has unique theories about their hobbies within hours of starting them, and answers not the question you asked, but the question you wanted to ask.
They are the reason why startups exist
These people cluster in startups because only there can they operate without the suffocating layers of process and politics. Only there can a small group of geniuses each other's taste and confer decision-making power based on merit rather than title. The startup is their refuge from a world that wants to put them in boxes they'll never fit into.