I strive to be a 0.1x Engineer (2016)
benjiweber.co.uk
I strive to be a 0.1x Engineer (2016)
1–10 of 144 posts
Re: I strive to be a 0.1x Engineer (2016)
#2Having worked on my share of kitchen-sink SAAS I'd say it's hard to cut back on features when table stakes are always raising. Clients often want a buffet of different things.
If you over specialize there isn't much moat. Which is fine for small shops. Though it does limit market size and growth potential.
Which isn't to say don't trim the fat. Just measure twice before cutting.
Re: I strive to be a 0.1x Engineer (2016)
#3FTA: this is the TL;DR and there's a lot of truth in it.
Given the cost of maintaining everything we build, it would
literally be better for us to do 10% the work and sit around
doing nothing for the rest of our time, if we could figure
out the right 10% to work on.Re: I strive to be a 0.1x Engineer (2016)
#4This is also usually the twist of the what makes a 10x engineer articles I've seen: "hey we don't actually need this, ticket closed" -- but all day.
Re: I strive to be a 0.1x Engineer (2016)
#5FTA: this is the TL;DR and there's a lot of truth in it. Given the cost of maintaining everything we build, it would literally be better for us to do 10% the work and sit around doing nothing for the rest of our time, if we could figure out the right 10% to work on.
But then what will I put on my resume and how will I answer all those behavior questions in STAR format so I can pile a bunch of new tech into my next job and then rinse and repeat?
Re: I strive to be a 0.1x Engineer (2016)
#6Discussed at the time:
Why I Strive to be a 0.1x Engineer - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10978841 - Jan 2016 (272 comments)
Re: I strive to be a 0.1x Engineer (2016)
#7When he describes what he does he's describing a 10x engineer. 10x doesn't mean you write 10x more code, it means you deliver 10x more problem solutions
Re: I strive to be a 0.1x Engineer (2016)
#8I just pair programmed with a student to help them get their code working. The first thing I did was delete unused variables and non-critical code that was distracting from the core algorithm.
After removing most of their print statements, it was obvious what the program was doing at run-time.
It's much harder to delete your own code than someone else's, especially when you're unsure of what's important.
Re: I strive to be a 0.1x Engineer (2016)
#9FTA: this is the TL;DR and there's a lot of truth in it. Given the cost of maintaining everything we build, it would literally be better for us to do 10% the work and sit around doing nothing for the rest of our time, if we could figure out the right 10% to work on.
But then what will I put on my resume and how will I answer all those behavior questions in STAR format so I can pile a bunch of new tech into my next job and then rinse and repeat?
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Re: I strive to be a 0.1x Engineer (2016)
#10When he describes what he does he's describing a 10x engineer. 10x doesn't mean you write 10x more code, it means you deliver 10x more problem solutions
Unfortunately even the most prolific and very successful CEOs and management in our industry often fail to understand this.
A couple years ago I was rejected from a 3rd round interview for a very large company that should have known better for the primary reason that my "coding challenge" exercise didn't meet an arbitrary lines of code minimum, despite meeting all of their requirements.
And of course we have the recent example of a certain chief Twit firing engineers based on LoC.