> I don’t understand what people mean by 10x programmer. So chances are you've never seen one. Now I wonder how are our experiences so different, because I've

> I don’t understand what people mean by 10x programmer. So chances are you've never seen one. Now I wonder how are our experiences so different, because I've known a bunch and I've worked at that level sometimes. > I thought it was a joke meme making fun of very fast but ultimately flawed programmers…. but then I realized some people were serious and sorta glorifying the negative aspects as well. That makes sense because there's a lot of egos involved in this topic. When you are doing most of the job of the team, obviously you're tempted to make it a part of your identity. But also it makes other people jealous and they look for a way to justify, blur, compensate and explain it away. In this matter, denial often comes from insecurities. Some of the incarnations: - There aren't 10x programmers, it's just because sometimes 1x programmers are surrounded by 0.1x programmers. - 10x programmers generates 100x maintenance when they leave. - There are 10x programmers, but they're not you, only a handful of geniuses in the world. - There are 10x programmers, but they're jerks and a company is better off without them. etc. (Sometimes the criticisms are justified, but not always) If you've never seen one, maybe it's because: - You're working in a line of work that deals with solved problems, incremental solutions. - You're working in a process-heavy team. Either 10x people flees from that or the process makes them invisible. - Other perverse incentives.