I question the usefulness of that way of thinking. 10x isn't an unchanging skill level, it's comparative performance over a period of time, and that extremely h

I question the usefulness of that way of thinking. 10x isn't an unchanging skill level, it's comparative performance over a period of time, and that extremely high level of performance likely has many contributing factors. Saying "oh, John is a 10x engineer" stops you from exploring how John is doing ten times the work of his colleagues. There are good answers, like John is an expert in the specific technology you're using and he was hired through a meet-up you sponsor; there are bad answers, like John has found a way to game the ticket system; and there are debatable answers, like John's team has a high support burden which he never helps with. If you insist on seeing him as a 10x developer through innate skill or divine fiat, then you're not going to look for the root cause of why he's doing more work than everyone else.