February 25, 2021:
My colleague overrates his staff.
"He's so crazy smart," he'll say, speaking of a junior developer who is not in truth particularly bright, whose work I was forced to more or less dictate after he repeatedly failed to grasp the concept. Or he'll say, "She's doing a tremendous job," when in fact what she's actually doing is asking her friend on my staff, an especially soft touch, to do it for her.
"I'm ferociously loyal to my guys," he says, and in this he's correct. A prima donna in another group has egregiously insulted one of his better ones. He takes me to lunch to commiserate, and ask for ideas.