> 2. Kid did not respect the authority of Boss. When Boss fired him, Kid went over his head and sold his actions to Big Boss.
No, he did respect the chain of command. He first went to his immediate boss, which promptly fired him. After being fired, I think it's fair game to sell his actions to the Big Boss.
I the the password he attached to the program also helped a bit. It would seem the boss wanted to continue using it. It's possible he would not have received proper credit without it.
2. Kid did not respect the authority of Boss. When Boss fired him, Kid went over his head and sold his actions to Big Boss.
Skill, resentment towards inefficiency, and careful disregard for authority. That is a good combination to get ahead.