I've never heard of this 10x thing but it reeks of "alpha male" exceptionalism that makes mediocre white boys feel powerful. Wherever these 10x people exist, I promise there are annoyed women and minorities having to take up the slack for them in every non-engineer aspect of their lives. The normal shit that's beneath them because they must dedicate all waking hours to the grind or the world will fall apart. Meanwhile normal people have to actually cook, do laundry, make appointments, raise children, etc. and catch flack for not being productive enough compared to the 10x guy who avoids showers and adult responsibilities.
this post was submitted on 21 Mar 2025
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I've worked with three incredible developers who I'd consider 10x: people who can reliably build a solution quickly, or debug problems that go deep into the OS. One would fit your description, one is a mom who shuttles her kid to after school stuff, and the other is a really nice music nerd.
Like the post states, some people are in the right place at the right time: they have the right background and temperament to do really well at their job. They don't need to be shitty people.
I know like 3-4 people who I'd label 10x engineers and while all but one are male, they're all non-toxic both at work and outside of work. Huge part of being 10x is enabling the rest of the team to work faster as well. If you just shit out code 10x as fast but someone else needs to pick up the slack to fix your bullshit and you don't communicate at all because your work is sooo important, you're not a 10x engineer, you're an asshole. A true 10x engineer elevates everyone around them.
Do they call themselves 10x?
No, I've never heard anyone use that term to refer to themselves. I just don't know a lot of arrogant assholes though.
I think that's the difference. The ones who call themselves 10x are just ridiculous alpha bros.
I mean anyone who labels themselves as top talent or alpha or whatever, is generally full of it if you ask me.
Because progress is for the most part iteration?
Without reading the article, my guess would be because they give their engineers enough time to do their best work.
Implying engineers are normal
LIES! It's us unstable ones that carry EVERYTHING!
I won't read the article now, but
arguing that true productivity lies in team performance, not individual brilliance
this is bullshit, a categorical statement.
There are good processes and there are bad processes. Good processes are usually functional for people of (sensibly) different mindsets and mental conditions. Bad processes are usually "one size fits all" in one way or another.
There are things a team can't have, and there are things a talented individual can't have.
There's also experience that covers holes one can't plan for, yep.
The archetype of the 10x engineer is called "Brent"