
Becoming a 10x Developer - mxschumacher
https://kateheddleston.com/blog/becoming-a-10x-developer
======
dyarosla
Total clickbait; Article equates being a 10x developer with being a better
"10x" teammate and then lists ways to be a better teammate. Not that becoming
a better teammate isn't important but it is definitely not synonymous with
becoming a 10x developer.

~~~
sulam
Did you read closely enough? She’s saying that you can improve the team by 10X
by helping your teammates. I’ll take a 10X team over a 10X developer any day,
by the way. And last I checked no one has a recipe to be a 10X developer and
that’s not even a thing.

~~~
bdamm
10x developer is absolutely a thing, in the easily observed phenomenon that
some developers are 10x more productive than other developers. The "other
developers" are earning good wages and doing good work; the 10x developer is
usually found making 2x or 3x the norm.

That said; I just can't believe that a team can perform 10x by the actions of
one person. This claim is so outlandish I may just have to skim the article.
It is often the case that having a 10x developer nearby can greatly improve
the quality of a product, but that's not the same thing as improving the team.

~~~
qwer
> the easily observed phenomenon that some developers are 10x more productive
> than other developers.

How are you measuring? LOC? Semi-colons per hour? story points? If you're
measuring in "dollars earned", how do you think their managers are measuring?
And can they tell the difference between a 10x programmer and an 11x
programmer?

~~~
bdamm
Then clearly you've never met one.

~~~
qwer
Clearly... but then again I won't work at a place with any developers less
than 11x.

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tropshop
> A 10x engineer isn’t someone who is 10x better than those around them, but
> someone who makes those around them 10x better.

This makes things even more confusing. What do we call the former, then? 10x
individual contributors are absolutely a reality. It is generally more about
horizontal skills and cutting though things to identify what really matters to
the business. If you are a ticket taker, your output will be very limited. But
if you can read between the lines and understand what stakeholders are
_trying_ to do, but are struggling to clearly communicate, and if you can find
creative ways to solve larger problems, and gracefully move around priorities
in the roadmap, you are very likely worth 10x-100x other team members who may
have similar titles.

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arglebarnacle
The 10x developer narrative is intriguing because 10x developers aren't being
paid 10x (maybe more like 2.5x), yet it's held up as a personal goal. Unless
you own your own company, you're basically aspiring to deliver actual millions
of dollars in uncompensated value to your employer.

~~~
kjeetgill
I'm not disagreeing with you. If its not a personal goal you are sort-of
providing uncompensated value to your employer.

But I don't see it as bing HELD up as a personal goal. I read it more as IF it
is your personal goal.

"Dev skills" are like a sport for some of us. You probably don't get paid to
make three pointers on your friends playing basketball on weekends but would
you find it so bizarre to work on improving your jump shot?

I was programming well before anyone was paying me to. I was just bored.

~~~
arglebarnacle
I don't disagree with you either. I'm just saddened by the way we're trained
to accept it as normal that Microsoft's shareholders are allowed to make a
75%+ margin on the efforts of an exceptional developer.

At least in a employee owned company (or similar structure) the extra value is
being split up equitably among people who are also working towards the
enterprise's success. Especially if it's really true that the way to "10x" is
to boost your teammates abilities, this nicely aligns everyone's incentives to
cooperate and improve.

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nnd
> you can’t build incredible software systems alone

Is this really the case? My guess it would depend on the magnitude of the
project. With the growth of developer tools available to us, it seems that the
team size is shrinking and indie makers appear to be on the rise.

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acconrad
These kinds of articles keep making it up the HN front page even though most
are fluff. It's like we keep hoping this will be the list that _finally_ tells
us how to truly be some multiple better than we already were.

If anything, this is a list for being a x10 manager, since managers are the
ones who need to focus on people and elevating your team.

~~~
hjorthjort
"managers are the ones who need to focus on people and elevating your team."

This is dangerously wrong. If you work in a team, your ability to work well
with others and help others work well with you correlates strongly with both
your productivity and the upwards slope of your career path. This is true in
almost every profession, and even more so in complex and collaborative work
such as software development. Labelling people skills as a manegerial issue is
doing yourself a huge disservice.

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nojvek
As I become more senior I spend more and more time thinking about how to solve
10X problems from root cause with 1X effort.

10X engineers don’t write 10X code. It’s not healthy to overwork. They get 10X
problems solved for the business with elegant 1X solutions since they
understand the system in a deep way. Sometimes you feel like they are taking
longer than 1X junior folks but these are the engineers who solve problems
from the root cause so they never happen again. Not only that, but they setup
the system in such a nice way that it removes friction for other developers
and makes them >2X effective. So all in all the whole team moves at multiples
of 10X.

And that just comes with practice and discipline.

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reese_john
I wasn't particularly fond of the article, I prefer Antirez's take on it:
[http://antirez.com/news/112](http://antirez.com/news/112)

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greymeister
> 2\. Encourage everyone to participate equally

...

> Your opinion is as valuable as your education, so if you have not educated
> yourself, your opinion is not valuable.

Some people participate more equally than others I guess.

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RcouF1uZ4gsC
I use the "Linus Test" when reading articles on how to be a 10X developer.
Linus is obviously one of the most productive developers both as an individual
and as a leader of a team. If the advice in the column is something that you
could see playing a big part in Linux being a 10X developer, then it is
reasonable advice. Otherwise, it is advice about something, but not about
being a 10X developer. This article fails the Linus Test.

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menacingly
I think I find this cultural cold war in our industry a lot more entertaining
than most

~~~
airstrike
I would find it entertaining were it not disheartening at the same time

~~~
LyndsySimon
Are you referring to this specific article, or the "cultural Cold War" in
general?

I'm honestly curious. In general I'm not in agreement with the direction we
seem to be going as an industry, but it seems to be for different reasons that
is generally assumed. I really think the biggest issue is one of impedance
mismatch. There are real issues that can and should be dealt with, but we're
speaking different languages and can't seem to get past that difference.

Speaking only for myself, I don't buy a lot of the thought around the concept
of Intersectionality. When I say that, those who _do_ buy in to that concept
usually tune me out. Likewise, when I speak about how do identify and reduce
implicit biases in hiring processes and building a culture of cooperation and,
as the author put it, a working environment of "psychological safety", those
on the other side of these issues tune me out.

I think that's really unfortunate - because I believe there is a lot of
potential for efficiency gains (and therefore, ultimately, profitability)
through purposeful cultural change. If the same actions also meet the goals of
Intersectionalists... great! Finding areas of common ground and working
together is the way the world moves forward.

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trhway
10x may be too much. A teammate has recently 2.5x-ed his salary, to half a
mil, and feels ok with it so far :) Couple others only 1.5x-ed and seem to be
pretty satisfied, at least for now, too.

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loco5niner
>So I decided to change the definition of a 10x engineer

No Thanks.

Also this:

> 1\. Read everything

Ok, be right back.

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RickJWagner
Hackernet pay-dirt!

Turning the 10x scenario on it's head was brilliant. I work hard to improve
myself, but the low-lying fruit has been picked. This article just gave me
several ways to boost my workplace.

Kudos to the author for this one.

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BadassFractal
Even more interestingly, how does one 10x one's income as a developer?

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callmeed
Based on other recent threads, start working at FB or Google where you
apparently can make $400K/year.

~~~
risotto_groupon
Or do what I did and work for a company with Remote in its DNA and move
somewhere so cheap you realize a 100% increase in salary from cost of living
decrease.

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cleanyourroom
_Whomp_

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urda
This "become a 10x FooBar!" is causing more harm than good. It ignores the
aspects of team coordination, self development, mental health, and even taking
time for self care.

I can literally feel my eyes roll out of my head when anyone tries to pitch
the 10x mantra to me.

~~~
fiveoak
I don't even think there is a clear definition of what the "10x" is measuring
in terms of output.

Features/story points (velocity)? well.. this is a productivity metric of the
team rather than individual.

Without a doubt some people can be more "productive" individuals than others,
but I -do- think in the real world, it makes more sense to look at
productivity on the team level rather than individual. Ex: someone is very
productive at making lots of commits but obnoxious to work with or has shoddy
tests/documentation that end up sucking time away from the "less productive"
developers that have to clean up their mess...

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ogennadi
> A 10x engineer isn’t someone who is 10x better than those around them, but
> someone who makes those around them 10x better.

> 10 Ways to be a Better Teammate \- Create an environment of psychological
> safety \- Encourage everyone to participate equally \- Assign credit
> accurately and generously \- Amplify unheard voices in meetings \- Give
> constructive, actionable feedback and avoid personal criticism \- Hold
> yourself and others accountable \- Cultivate excellence in an area that is
> valuable to the team \- Educate yourself about diversity, inclusivity, and
> equality in the workplace \- Maintain a growth mindset \- Advocate for
> company policies that increase workplace equality

