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Busting the 10x software engineer myth

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Re: Busting the 10x software engineer myth

#71

Post by AdrianB1 »

dijit wrote: post #3

I know "10x engineers" exist; some people are fakes and put forward things that look like they have high impact but are actually a bit shoddy. Some people like to be present and suck up. But some people really do just work hard, smart and have deep passion for what they're doing- and importantly: pride, which makes the quality of the content great too. Some of the best engineers I know "visit" bits of code or infrast…

You don't always have a choice: you cannot replace a person that can read with 10 people that cannot read. All of the very few "10x people" that I met had expertise far beyond their team mates had and they used it well.

Re: Busting the 10x software engineer myth

#72

Post by tcgv »

jmchuster wrote: post #18
dijit wrote: post #3

I know "10x engineers" exist; some people are fakes and put forward things that look like they have high impact but are actually a bit shoddy. Some people like to be present and suck up. But some people really do just work hard, smart and have deep passion for what they're doing- and importantly: pride, which makes the quality of the content great too. Some of the best engineers I know "visit" bits of code or infrast…

If we're taking about is just output on a larger macro scale, then yes, hiring enough people will replace 10x engineers. But some things i think you won't be able to replace -- You won't be able to replace speed on short-term projects. Lots of people means lots of communication overhead, which really kills fast responsive speed. If you value time to answer, you'd prefer a small team of really smart people instead of…

> hiring enough people will replace 10x engineers

The math is not that simple. The output of a Junior engineer is much different from that of a Senior engineer. You can hire any number of Junior engineers you want, and they won't have the vision and seasoned experience of a Senior engineer for producing higher quality code with less technical debt.

Even among Senior engineers there are different grades of experience/competence/capability.

Re: Busting the 10x software engineer myth

#73

Post by mpweiher »

WalterBright wrote: post #2

I can cite many examples of a 10x engineer having an insight that greatly shortened the development time. It's not that they write code faster. It's that they select a path to the solution that is a lot shorter.

> they select a path to the solution that is a lot shorter.

Yeah, I've also seen this. A lot. And selecting a shorter path often includes redefining the problem to be solved.

In fact, as far as I can tell these kinds of differences are the norm, not the exception.

From the article:

> In a controlled environment, the variation between most software engineers is much more modest.

This is almost certainly true, but completely misses the point. The point of 10x engineers is that they change the environment. They don't type in code 10x faster. If you don't allow them to change the environment, they won't be 10x more effective.

Re: Busting the 10x software engineer myth

#74

Post by patrickthebold »

WalterBright wrote: post #2

I can cite many examples of a 10x engineer having an insight that greatly shortened the development time. It's not that they write code faster. It's that they select a path to the solution that is a lot shorter.

I'd add that its also in the design of things and deciding what to work on.

I've seen small design decisions lead to a lot more (or less) work for the whole team. I've also seen teams work for months on things that didn't need to be done.

Re: Busting the 10x software engineer myth

#75

Post by eurasiantiger »

einpoklum wrote: post #50

There may be 10x engineers. But what I know for sure is, that there are engineers (or engineering teams) which make you perform at 1/10x of what you might have, by mis-carefully laying a minefield of: * Build difficulties. * Hidden dependencies. * Multiple and conflicting sources of configuration information. * Lack of documentation * Incorrect/outdated/stone-cold lyin' documentation * Mis-named executables, configur…

Seems more like time pressure than incompetence to me.

Re: Busting the 10x software engineer myth

#76

Post by random_kris »

rualca wrote: post #66
WalterBright wrote: post #2

I can cite many examples of a 10x engineer having an insight that greatly shortened the development time. It's not that they write code faster. It's that they select a path to the solution that is a lot shorter.

> It's not that they write code faster. It's that they select a path to the solution that is a lot shorter. I know a developer who likes portraying himself as a kind of 10x. He does not code faster, better, or smarter. His talent is managing his supervisor's expectations. He massages management to revise goals and shave off requirements, he is able to leverage even the smallest bump on the project management road to…

I think you are just salty. Communication is really important and seems like that dev was really capable at it

Re: Busting the 10x software engineer myth

#77

Post by api »

Not sure about the exact number before the X, but remarkably capable people exist in every field of human endeavor including engineering.

I get the sense that some of this constant myth busting comes from HR people who want people to be interchangeable parts and don’t like it when they are not.

Re: Busting the 10x software engineer myth

#79

Post by tonyedgecombe »

xiphias2 wrote: post #21

Satoshi Nakamoto is a great example of a 1000x engineer (or a bunch of 1000x engineers) with an impact measured in trillions of USD, but the article may be right that he wouldn't have been able to have that impact inside a big financial organization, as his engineering is disruptive.

If you measure his impact in turns of extra CO2 emitted you might take a different view.

Re: Busting the 10x software engineer myth

#80

Post by flerchin »

If you haven't worked with one, you might believe it's a myth. Some folks, in the right place at the right time, are just better. Probably way more than 10x better, but dragged down by the same meetings overhead, at more than 10x the cost for no benefit, as everyone else. No I'm not one of them.
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