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> isn’t the equivalent of these rockstar 10x engineers Wait, is the “rockstar 10x engineer” a thing in real life? I get that people can be highly knowledgeable

> isn’t the equivalent of these rockstar 10x engineers Wait, is the “rockstar 10x engineer” a thing in real life? I get that people can be highly knowledgeable in a certain area or familiar with certain tools or highly effective at cutting to the core important details of a problem and making it clearer.

infinity0 8y ago
Why wouldn't it be a thing in real life?
40acres 8y ago
"Rockstars" are real but I think the idea has been warped. Every field has an elite set of performers who outshine the others. I don't see why software development would be any different.
abhinai 8y ago
It is a thing in real life. You have to see it to believe it. To be fair, 10 people would write more code than a 10x engineer. But a 10x engineer can cut through complexity and deliver something simple that, by the virtue of its simplicity and brilliance in design, works (1) better, (2) faster, (3) has fewer bugs, (4) took 1/10th the time (5) requires less maintenance etc. etc.
james_s_tayler 8y ago
I think it helps to reformulate the question to "are there people at the tail ends of the distribution?"
debatem1 8y ago
Rockstars and 10x engineers are both real and not terribly uncommon, but often are not the same people. For the 10xer, it usually isn't that they do 10x more work, it's that they know how to make their org do 1/10th the work and get essentially the same results. They pay attention to business requirements and if you spot a senior engineer being listened to very closely by the people who make business requirements you've got reasonable odds of having found one. The other type is the person who has an esoteric skill that lets you advance your business objectives by 10x-- for example, the optimization engineer who figures out how to cut server costs by 90% or whatever. These folks are usually viewed as wizards by other engineers. If you find an engineer being consistently handed all the 'crunchy' problems you've got a good candidate for this type, and again they aren't that rare. Very, very rarely the two are the same person. If you ever work with one you'll probably know it pretty quickly, but odds are low.
- tabtab 8y ago
  perhaps one can say there are people who work with existing complexity well, and there are people who reduce complexity well. These two types of people don't necessarily overlap.
MichaelMoser123 8y ago
i suspect that the 10x thing is highly dependent on problem domain and expertise in a specific field, a person may get to be very good at say frontend, but if he moves on to another domain he may be much less effective. maybe there are people who are 10x across the board, can't be ruled out.
startupdiscuss 8y ago
Rockstars are definitely a thing in real life. They may have long hair or tight clothes. They sing or play instruments and are often surrounded by fans. Unfortunately I’ve never seen one involved in computers.

infinity0 8y ago

Why wouldn't it be a thing in real life?

40acres 8y ago

"Rockstars" are real but I think the idea has been warped. Every field has an elite set of performers who outshine the others. I don't see why software development would be any different.

abhinai 8y ago

It is a thing in real life. You have to see it to believe it. To be fair, 10 people would write more code than a 10x engineer. But a 10x engineer can cut through complexity and deliver something simple that, by the virtue of its simplicity and brilliance in design, works (1) better, (2) faster, (3) has fewer bugs, (4) took 1/10th the time (5) requires less maintenance etc. etc.

james_s_tayler 8y ago

I think it helps to reformulate the question to "are there people at the tail ends of the distribution?"

debatem1 8y ago

Rockstars and 10x engineers are both real and not terribly uncommon, but often are not the same people. For the 10xer, it usually isn't that they do 10x more work, it's that they know how to make their org do 1/10th the work and get essentially the same results. They pay attention to business requirements and if you spot a senior engineer being listened to very closely by the people who make business requirements you've got reasonable odds of having found one. The other type is the person who has an esoteric skill that lets you advance your business objectives by 10x-- for example, the optimization engineer who figures out how to cut server costs by 90% or whatever. These folks are usually viewed as wizards by other engineers. If you find an engineer being consistently handed all the 'crunchy' problems you've got a good candidate for this type, and again they aren't that rare. Very, very rarely the two are the same person. If you ever work with one you'll probably know it pretty quickly, but odds are low.

tabtab 8y ago
perhaps one can say there are people who work with existing complexity well, and there are people who reduce complexity well. These two types of people don't necessarily overlap.

MichaelMoser123 8y ago

i suspect that the 10x thing is highly dependent on problem domain and expertise in a specific field, a person may get to be very good at say frontend, but if he moves on to another domain he may be much less effective. maybe there are people who are 10x across the board, can't be ruled out.

startupdiscuss 8y ago

Rockstars are definitely a thing in real life. They may have long hair or tight clothes. They sing or play instruments and are often surrounded by fans. Unfortunately I’ve never seen one involved in computers.