I roughly divide these skills into three tiers: * Micro-optimizations: e.g. a shortcut that saves you a few seconds several times a day. * 'Mid'-optimizations

I roughly divide these skills into three tiers: * Micro-optimizations: e.g. a shortcut that saves you a few seconds several times a day. * 'Mid'-optimizations: e.g. writing an script that saves you an hour once a week. * Macro-optimizations: e.g. pushing back against building a useless feature that saves you several months in a year. Most developers focus in the micro level, but I believe 10x productivity lives in the macro level. Also the macro level doesn't need as much tech skills as it does soft skills and domain knowledge. As an exhibit, in my career I've seen two projects that a) never launched b) took several people several months to build c) would have never been built had someone pushed back and asked the right questions at the start.