ability to solve Hard Problems rather than create them

...and to explain the solution to humans with the same code that solves the problem on a computer. It rarely happens completely, but it's a good ideal.

I mean clearly the highest IQ people I’ve ever worked with. The smartest people I’ve worked with that are developers.

By outward appearance or some other metric?

Not to get on a soapbox, but I would imagine someone with great pattern recognition would be able to realize this way of doing things is deranged; and ultimately helps them more than the team- On second though: perhaps they are genuinely the smartest people in the room -- prioritizing their image and importance by making others believe they're too stupid to understand what's going on.

I really should go study Gang of Four -- job security demands it.