A 10x Software Engineer is not somebody that can write programs 10 times faster. A 10x SE can solve problems that are 10x more complex. Because a 10x SE has a

A 10x Software Engineer is not somebody that can write programs 10 times faster. A 10x SE can solve problems that are 10x more complex. Because a 10x SE has a higher understanding and is able make design simplications and create better abstractions that allows her to not get lost on the complexity. Case in point. I have similar years of experience as Linus Torvalds and feel I am pretty good SE, but I couldn't have written git. Because his understanding is in a different level. I am able to understand how git works, but he was able to come up with the concept. I was happily using subversion but he knew what needed to be different and how to implement it. It is just another level.