The Rogue

A Underappreciated Software Developer who ignores requirements and builds something better than what was asked for.

Special Abilities

Rebel Alliance

Able to build a team to support their initiative.

Full Steam Ahead

Can lead their team to victory.

Killer Demo

Ability to give spectacular presentations to a wide audience of stakeholders.

Overview

Rogues are fearless leaders driven to push the boundaries of what is possible. Rogues are often founders of technology startups, technical heads of research and development projects, and developers who are driven to lead their projects to success. Their passion for innovation is infectious, and the electricity they emanate brings out the best in the people around them.

Rogues are bristling with new ideas and approaches, and have a clear vision of what their team needs to do at any point in time. They are able to change technical direction in an instant to forge an entirely new path in the pursuit of revolutionary breakthroughs. Their inexhaustible supply of enthusiasm, innate sense of camaraderie, and sheer force of will inspires their team to achieve goals they never thought possible.

Rogues draw their power from their extreme level of self-confidence. While their charisma will tend to win them latitude with stakeholders, their radical approaches and rapid decision making will often land them in hot water with conservative members of the project. As Rogues have little sense of self-preservation, they need to be surrounded by a close-knit team of both like-minded individuals and trusted advisers to maintain their positive energy when dealing with scrutiny from critics.

Identification Checklist

  • Will think of and implement innovative approaches to solving novel problems.
  • Will rally others to their cause to form organic cross-functional teams.
  • Will tend to seek forgiveness rather than ask for permission.
  • Will remain undeterred by criticism or failure.
  • Will lead their team to victory no matter the costs.

Common Misconceptions

  • Rogues are not The Diva, as they are only difficult to manage when their goals are at odds with the goals of their management team.
  • Rogues are not acting as The Dictator, as people who believe in their vision follow them willingly, and trust that the Rogue has the team and the organization’s best interests at heart.
  • Rogues are not The Extreme Underestimator, as the high degree of risk in the challenges they are drawn to often make it impossible for them to provide even general timelines for completion.
  • Rogues are not acting as The Optimist, as they are very aware of everything that could go wrong, and are usually actively working to minimize or eliminate those risks.

Supporting Team Members

  • The Tank serves a critical role in fielding questions from stakeholders to which the Rogue most likely does not have answers.
  • The Assassin serves a vital role in developing prototypes and rapidly iterating on features.
  • The Ranger can help make important decisions around which technologies should be used to build a new initiative.
  • The Sage’s measured pragmatism can serve as an important counter-balance to the Rogues desire to get a system deployed as quickly as possible.
  • The Shapeshifter is very helpful in providing support to the entire team as the needs of the project evolve.
  • The Healer and The Hunter will both prove very useful in maintaining a high level of code quality as the code based evolves.

Showing Appreciation

  • Rogues appreciate being given creative freedom to execute on their vision using whatever approach they feel is best.
  • Rogues will often be under an enormous amount of self-induced stress, and will therefore deeply appreciate any efforts made by their teammates to reduce external stress.
  • Rogue can often be worn down by demands for status updates and will appreciate anyone who can act as a buffer between them and eager stakeholders.

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