On: On Being an Engineer in 2026

Dont confuse. good engineers isn't synonymous with 10x engineers. 10x is purely an invented label to stack rank on a single (fuzzy) dimension.

There's enough 10x non-good (technically and ethically measured) engineers who learned to game the system.

And there's even more 1x good engineers who work very very well with teams and deliver at par (just never beyond set expectations to be labelled 10x)

> 10x is purely a label measures on a single dimension. There's enough 10x non-good (technically and ethically measured) engineers who learned to game the system.

I realize there's no universal definition but I can't agree with this depiction of a "10x" engineer. The type of engineer we're talking about isn't gaming the system, tautologically.

you're right that i paint a cynical picture pointing out the looney ones.

the real good ones do really want to only work with other really good ones.

but i'm sure you'll agree that the real 10x-ers reject the 10x label themselves.