My major problem with 501 developers is that it's hard to tell those that say "it's just a job, but I take pride in my craft and do it well" from those that say "It's just a job. period." without pride and love for the craft. It's fine to leave by 5:01 or even 4:59 and I actually urge my coworkers to do so, but it's not fine to leave by 501 when you dropped the ball at 4:59 and leave the rest of the team to clean your mess.
And, honestly, just how often does do people in your team drop the ball right before leaving for the day? Every day? Every other day? Every week even?
If someone's dropping the ball so frequently, perhaps they're either in the wrong job or need some serious training and mentorship from more capable members of the team.
And if it doesn't happen particularly often, what are you complaining about?
perfect, exactly. this kind of "501ers drop the ball and repeatedly let down their colleagues" is just the kind of chuckleheaded received wisdom that the ninja coders have been putting about for too long. we should all challenge it.
