I think a better way to look at stuff, is to think of the Pareto Principle or the 80/20 rule. I would guess, with deliberate practice and hard work, many peopl

I think a better way to look at stuff, is to think of the Pareto Principle or the 80/20 rule. I would guess, with deliberate practice and hard work, many people are able to hit the 80th percentile of skill at something. Going beyond that likely takes some natural talent or luck. The thing is, that getting to the 80th percentile in multiple areas makes you more valuable, than if you just spent the time getting to 95th percentile in a single area. So if you 80th percentile programmer, maybe you shift and study writing and communication and you become an 80th percentile writer. Now as an individual contributor you are 96th percentile (1 - (.2*.2)). You study some management and work on becoming an 80th percentile manager, and now you are a 99th percentile employee (1 - (.2 * .2 *.2)). Programming skills are for the most part table stakes. Once you reach a certain level of proficiency, work on communication and leadership.