When did IEEE become host to clickbait nonsense? This whole take feels like an editorial by a junior engineer going off vibes. It's all off-base, from the misunderstanding of how to measure productivity, to what output matters, to the idea that there is such a thing as a "normal" software engineer. It's kind of embarrassing.
Yeah, it's really a poor quality post, but these terrible arguments and affirmed my bias toward believing 10x engineers exist and there are many great reasons to want to continue hiring them.
Reasons why it's not a good idea to look for a "10x engineer":
- There is no "10x race horse", as there's different kinds of horses who win different kinds of races (and those horses don't win consistently). Similarly, "10x engineer" would imply there's only one kind of engineer, one kind of engineering, or only one way they can be productive. You can certainly find a "person who is very productive under certain circumstances". "10x engineer" is an extreme oversimplification of a generic person doing a generic job; but people aren't generic, and this job isn't generic. There just is no "10x engineer". It would be the coder equivalent of the Übermensch.
- It's not a good idea to bet the farm on one lone genius. They could get hit by a bus, be hired away somewhere else, or just not be "inspired" by your company or team and end up not producing. Instead build a team of competent and diverse individuals led by a decent leadership/management team who can create consistent results without having to find a magic wizard coder. (Personally, if I found out someone in my org was risking the business on a single person that was impossible to replace, I would be upset)
- There's just not that many super-talented people out there. The few that are, pick where they want to work; you don't hire them, they hire you, so to speak. And even when you think you've met one, it may actually just be bluster or a false reputation.
