Ask HN: [Serious] Have you met any actual 10x engineers?

4 pointsaero-glide22y ago16 comments

16 comments

I've met several. Anticipating what you might ask, what makes them 10x engineers? The ability to go off by themselves, get themselves into a type of trance because they are so focused and return a week or two later with thousands of lines of a fully formed formed program with near perfect working code. It's amazing to see.

chrsw2y ago

In my opinion, the best engineers don't "go off by themselves". The best help enable an entire team to be more productive, learn faster and deliver value quicker.

labrador2y ago

It takes great skill to lead a group of people and get the most out of them. That's not an engineering problem.

chrsw2y ago

It doesn't necessarily have to be leadership. It could be communication, documentation, culture, any number of things. Yes, we are engineers and we work on technical challenges. But nothing is done in isolation, everything is collaboration. The better engineers are the ones that realize this sooner. Even if one person writes amazing code, someone else has to test it, someone has to ship it, someone has to maintain it. These are all engineering problems.

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syndicatedjelly2y ago

What kind of companies or spaces have you encountered them in?

labrador2y ago

One was at Microsoft. He kept his office dark except for a large illumiated picture of Jesus on his wall. Everyone spoke reverentially of him and knew to leave him alone. Another was at a small company I worked at. He was my senior. He disappeared for 10 days and returned with about 10,000 lines of 68000 asm code that utilized all 16 32bit registers to pass parameters instead of the stack. I was tasked with testing it. I never found anything wrong with it that weren't minor nits.

syndicatedjelly2y ago

> He was my senior. He disappeared for 10 days and returned with about 10,000 lines of 68000 asm code that utilized all 16 32bit registers to pass parameters instead of the stack. I was tasked with testing it. I never found anything wrong with it that weren't minor nits.

The places I've worked at would chew me out for "re-inventing the wheel", which is what this would be seen as. How do you vet a workplace ahead of time, that lets you do this kind of "mad scientist" tinkering and engineering?

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db48x2y ago

A fair few, yes. Don't forget that the original definition (from Peopleware) means that these engineers are 10× better than the least capable engineers who are able to maintain their career, not 10× better than the average engineer. They were also comparing engineers across companies, so it's possible (though statistically unlikely) that you and every engineer at your company are 10× engineers.

codingdave2y ago

Sure, I've met them. I've been them. I've also met and been the opposite.

Many people can be 10x when everything is aligned for their specific skill set, working environment, and personality. Being hyper-productive is less of a unique aspect of a person, and more about giving people the exact environment in which they can do their best work.

RGamma2y ago

[Serious]? Not reddit, but it might as well be.

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16 comments

labrador2y ago

chrsw2y ago

In my opinion, the best engineers don't "go off by themselves". The best help enable an entire team to be more productive, learn faster and deliver value quicker.

labrador2y ago

It takes great skill to lead a group of people and get the most out of them. That's not an engineering problem.

chrsw2y ago

1 more reply

syndicatedjelly2y ago

What kind of companies or spaces have you encountered them in?

labrador2y ago

syndicatedjelly2y ago

1 more reply

db48x2y ago

codingdave2y ago

Sure, I've met them. I've been them. I've also met and been the opposite.

RGamma2y ago

[Serious]? Not reddit, but it might as well be.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse