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> 6. Not all programmers are created equal [...] In actual fact, the performance of one developer can be 10x or even 100x that of another. The author points th

> 6. Not all programmers are created equal [...] In actual fact, the performance of one developer can be 10x or even 100x that of another. The author points this out as controversial, possibly because it might make people feed bad. I think it’s just wrong. Measuring programmers by output means you’re ranking your team based on who’s doing the most in that context. That includes what opportunities they’ve been provided, their areas of expertise, the level of autonomy they’re given, etc. Getting people to reach their full potential is hard work. Sure, there are developers who require little to no effort to be high performers. Chances are it’s because of the opportunities they were given in the past to get there.

whimsicalism 6y ago
Your claim is it is impossible for there to be a 10x difference in "full potential" and all apparent differences are because the "full potential" has not been unlocked?
- teucris 6y ago
  There can definitely be a 10x difference in “full potential”. I think it’s super rare, and our ability to assess full potential is massively overshadowed by other factors.
  - whimsicalism 6y ago
    So explain again how > 6. Not all programmers are created equal [...] In actual fact, the performance of one developer can be 10x or even 100x that of another. is "wrong" given that > There can definitely be a 10x difference in “full potential”.
    - teucris 6y ago
      I like maccard’s response better than mine: > measuring two developers and saying one is 10x more productive than the other doesn't mean that the first is 10x better, just that they are 10x better at what you are measuring under the terms you are measuring. If you’re interpreting the author’s statement as an assessment of full potential, then you may be right. I didn’t read it that way, and honestly I don’t think that assessment can be easily made.
- maccard 6y ago
  No, his claim is that measuring two developers and saying one is 10x more productive than the other doesn't mean that the first is 10x better, just that they are 10x better at what you are measuring under the terms you are measuring, nothing else.
  - whimsicalism 6y ago
    OK. So there's this concern of measuring of output, which I think is very fair as it is usually very biased, companies are not good at attribution. None of that seems to imply that the opinion is "wrong" though, it seems more like an orthogonal concern.
offtop5 6y ago
I'll venture to say 100xers don't exist. If your in a team which helps you succeed you'll perform better. I've been very good at leaving jobs where I don't feel like I'm a good fit. On my previous team I spent most of time helping junior developers. This was extremely rewarding on a personal level. While I wasn't writing 500 loc a day, this was impressive enough to net me a promotion and a 60k raise after about a year . Thinking that your simply the greatest programer that ever was doesn't mean you'll work well on a team .
- treis 6y ago
  >I'll venture to say 100xers don't exist. Maybe this is just a semantic argument, but there are definitely 1/100xers out there. Even worse, developers so bad that they are actually net negatives. They take up more of the senior's time through bug fixing and mentoring than it would have taken the senior to just write the code themselves.
  - offtop5 6y ago
    Give a 100xer a boss who berates him for not writing enough comments and s/he is no longer a 100xer. If anything I've seen more people get in trouble just for being jerks, you can do very well as a bad developer you just can't be a mean person

whimsicalism 6y ago

Your claim is it is impossible for there to be a 10x difference in "full potential" and all apparent differences are because the "full potential" has not been unlocked?

teucris 6y ago
There can definitely be a 10x difference in “full potential”. I think it’s super rare, and our ability to assess full potential is massively overshadowed by other factors.
- whimsicalism 6y ago
  So explain again how > 6. Not all programmers are created equal [...] In actual fact, the performance of one developer can be 10x or even 100x that of another. is "wrong" given that > There can definitely be a 10x difference in “full potential”.
  - teucris 6y ago
    I like maccard’s response better than mine: > measuring two developers and saying one is 10x more productive than the other doesn't mean that the first is 10x better, just that they are 10x better at what you are measuring under the terms you are measuring. If you’re interpreting the author’s statement as an assessment of full potential, then you may be right. I didn’t read it that way, and honestly I don’t think that assessment can be easily made.
maccard 6y ago
No, his claim is that measuring two developers and saying one is 10x more productive than the other doesn't mean that the first is 10x better, just that they are 10x better at what you are measuring under the terms you are measuring, nothing else.
- whimsicalism 6y ago
  OK. So there's this concern of measuring of output, which I think is very fair as it is usually very biased, companies are not good at attribution. None of that seems to imply that the opinion is "wrong" though, it seems more like an orthogonal concern.

offtop5 6y ago

I'll venture to say 100xers don't exist. If your in a team which helps you succeed you'll perform better. I've been very good at leaving jobs where I don't feel like I'm a good fit. On my previous team I spent most of time helping junior developers. This was extremely rewarding on a personal level. While I wasn't writing 500 loc a day, this was impressive enough to net me a promotion and a 60k raise after about a year . Thinking that your simply the greatest programer that ever was doesn't mean you'll work well on a team .

treis 6y ago
>I'll venture to say 100xers don't exist. Maybe this is just a semantic argument, but there are definitely 1/100xers out there. Even worse, developers so bad that they are actually net negatives. They take up more of the senior's time through bug fixing and mentoring than it would have taken the senior to just write the code themselves.
- offtop5 6y ago
  Give a 100xer a boss who berates him for not writing enough comments and s/he is no longer a 100xer. If anything I've seen more people get in trouble just for being jerks, you can do very well as a bad developer you just can't be a mean person