Never heard the term 10x Engineer and I've been working as a developer for over 20 years. Silicon Valley sure likes its metaphors (ninjas, rocks stars, 10x engineers and so on).
Never heard the term 10x Engineer and I've been working as a developer for over 20 years.
Silicon Valley sure likes its metaphors (ninjas, rocks stars, 10x engineers and so on).
Seriously. I don't know what the deal is. I'm not saying there is anything wrong with people working at these places, if that's the type of place you think you'd do good at, go for it (edit for...
Seriously. I don't know what the deal is. I'm not saying there is anything wrong with people working at these places, if that's the type of place you think you'd do good at, go for it (edit for clarification: using the general you, not directing this at you). That said, whenever I've been looking for jobs if I see ninja, rock star, "Work hard play harder", or any of that kind of Silicon Valley "We're cool, we're not like other jobs" kind of shit I immediately close the listing. I have no interest in working in a place like that. It just feels like they breed shitty environments.
The sheer arrogance of startup culture annoys me to no end. The whole concept of "disruption" comes with it the implication of "Yeah, we know that people have been working in this industry for...
The sheer arrogance of startup culture annoys me to no end. The whole concept of "disruption" comes with it the implication of "Yeah, we know that people have been working in this industry for fifty or one hundred or two hundred years, but we know how to do it better, because we know javascript".
It's quite an old term, dating from over 50 years ago (when the original 1968 study that kicked it off came out). I believe the 1975 book "The Mythical Man-Month" was what really popularized the...
It's quite an old term, dating from over 50 years ago (when the original 1968 study that kicked it off came out). I believe the 1975 book "The Mythical Man-Month" was what really popularized the idea.
(Not saying I buy into 10x, but it's not something from thin air invented by Silicon Valley types this year...)
I don't know that this author is describing a 10x engineer so much as a responsibility hoarder. I do not believe the two are the same thing. Nothing about being overprotective means that you are...
I don't know that this author is describing a 10x engineer so much as a responsibility hoarder. I do not believe the two are the same thing. Nothing about being overprotective means that you are faster at coding.
I get pretty annoyed at the way people approach the 10x engineer discussion - as if you either get speed or teamwork, but never both. In my 15+ years of software development I've found that to be a false dichotomy. Some developers work fast, some developers work slow. Some developers play well with others, some developers are real assholes. There's nothing directly linking those two axis.
I think what confuses the issue is that some people get in their head that it's okay to be an asshole because they work fast. They justify their behavior to themselves by thinking that being an asshole is the key to their success, rather than simply an unrelated aspect of their personality. They may be reinforced by their managers who prefer their fast work and thus looks the other way on their asshole nature. All of these people fail to realize that being an asshole was not a prerequisite to their skill.
I've worked with talented developers who work quickly who are also funny and kind. I've also worked with some assholes who also barely contributed to the codebase. It's not an either-or.
For the first time ever, I actually think the Twitter thread was a better read because it was more informational. Neither really did a good job at defining what a "10x engineer" was supposed to...
For the first time ever, I actually think the Twitter thread was a better read because it was more informational. Neither really did a good job at defining what a "10x engineer" was supposed to be, but I got a good idea after reading the Twitter thread.
Yeah. There was a tildes thead about "Ricks" the other day (the article was also posted in the twitter thread) and there was a shocking number of tildes users ready to defend being a really shitty...
Yeah. There was a tildes thead about "Ricks" the other day (the article was also posted in the twitter thread) and there was a shocking number of tildes users ready to defend being a really shitty coworker.
My reading of that thread was: "Sometimes people are 'Ricks' because their coworkers can't get up to speed as quickly as desired or the company isn't hiring smart people, and we shouldn't blame...
My reading of that thread was: "Sometimes people are 'Ricks' because their coworkers can't get up to speed as quickly as desired or the company isn't hiring smart people, and we shouldn't blame 'Ricks' for being egotistical jerks who don't work well with others and eventually need to be fired."
Yeah. And I still firmly believe that if a company is that bad at mismanaging and you're that miserable there, you should leave the situation rather than sitting there getting a god complex and...
Yeah. And I still firmly believe that if a company is that bad at mismanaging and you're that miserable there, you should leave the situation rather than sitting there getting a god complex and being a prick to those around you*.
*Unless you are in a situation where there are literally 0 comparable jobs in the area that can afford the cost of living
I don't have a great answer for you. I think there are a few people's responsibilities: (1) It is always the job of your coworkers to meet the expectations for their role, whatever that is. (2) If...
When does it become my coworkers responsibility to be better?
I don't have a great answer for you. I think there are a few people's responsibilities:
(1) It is always the job of your coworkers to meet the expectations for their role, whatever that is.
(2) If they fail to meet the expectations of their role, then it is on management to work with them and team members to make a plan to help them grow and succeed to a point where they meet expectations
(3) If (1) and (2) fail, it is on management to replace the person who cannot meet standards with someone who will.
(4) If management can't do (3), you're working at a company that is broken on all levels and you should look for the nearest door because every person at the company has failed at their jobs. This is not to say you should leave with a god complex and be a dick, you should realize you have found yourself in an unsuccessful team environment and should find a new place to work with a healthier environment.
As a person who is on a team, it is your job to try and help your teammates succeed to the best of your abilities without causing harm to yourself. If your team is unable to succeed with all people doing that, you have either unrealistic goals or a bad team (not necessarily the people have to be bad either, maybe its just you don't work well together) and need to make changes. If you bounce around to many jobs and find every team has the same issues, maybe reflect on what you might be doing to prevent team success.
Except a certain demographic at Silicon Valley and minimum wage unskilled workers, not many people can afford such mobility and in many places the management will just ignore you.
Except a certain demographic at Silicon Valley and minimum wage unskilled workers, not many people can afford such mobility and in many places the management will just ignore you.
Never heard the term 10x Engineer and I've been working as a developer for over 20 years.
Silicon Valley sure likes its metaphors (ninjas, rocks stars, 10x engineers and so on).
Seriously. I don't know what the deal is. I'm not saying there is anything wrong with people working at these places, if that's the type of place you think you'd do good at, go for it (edit for clarification: using the general you, not directing this at you). That said, whenever I've been looking for jobs if I see ninja, rock star, "Work hard play harder", or any of that kind of Silicon Valley "We're cool, we're not like other jobs" kind of shit I immediately close the listing. I have no interest in working in a place like that. It just feels like they breed shitty environments.
The sheer arrogance of startup culture annoys me to no end. The whole concept of "disruption" comes with it the implication of "Yeah, we know that people have been working in this industry for fifty or one hundred or two hundred years, but we know how to do it better, because we know javascript".
Just made me do a spit-take with my coffee.
It's quite an old term, dating from over 50 years ago (when the original 1968 study that kicked it off came out). I believe the 1975 book "The Mythical Man-Month" was what really popularized the idea.
(Not saying I buy into 10x, but it's not something from thin air invented by Silicon Valley types this year...)
I don't know that this author is describing a 10x engineer so much as a responsibility hoarder. I do not believe the two are the same thing. Nothing about being overprotective means that you are faster at coding.
I get pretty annoyed at the way people approach the 10x engineer discussion - as if you either get speed or teamwork, but never both. In my 15+ years of software development I've found that to be a false dichotomy. Some developers work fast, some developers work slow. Some developers play well with others, some developers are real assholes. There's nothing directly linking those two axis.
I think what confuses the issue is that some people get in their head that it's okay to be an asshole because they work fast. They justify their behavior to themselves by thinking that being an asshole is the key to their success, rather than simply an unrelated aspect of their personality. They may be reinforced by their managers who prefer their fast work and thus looks the other way on their asshole nature. All of these people fail to realize that being an asshole was not a prerequisite to their skill.
I've worked with talented developers who work quickly who are also funny and kind. I've also worked with some assholes who also barely contributed to the codebase. It's not an either-or.
For the first time ever, I actually think the Twitter thread was a better read because it was more informational. Neither really did a good job at defining what a "10x engineer" was supposed to be, but I got a good idea after reading the Twitter thread.
Oh, that thread was serious. I thought he was just making a point about primadonna employees.
Yeah. There was a tildes thead about "Ricks" the other day (the article was also posted in the twitter thread) and there was a shocking number of tildes users ready to defend being a really shitty coworker.
My reading of that thread was: "Sometimes people are 'Ricks' because their coworkers can't get up to speed as quickly as desired or the company isn't hiring smart people, and we shouldn't blame 'Ricks' for being egotistical jerks who don't work well with others and eventually need to be fired."
Yeah. And I still firmly believe that if a company is that bad at mismanaging and you're that miserable there, you should leave the situation rather than sitting there getting a god complex and being a prick to those around you*.
*Unless you are in a situation where there are literally 0 comparable jobs in the area that can afford the cost of living
I don't have a great answer for you. I think there are a few people's responsibilities:
(1) It is always the job of your coworkers to meet the expectations for their role, whatever that is.
(2) If they fail to meet the expectations of their role, then it is on management to work with them and team members to make a plan to help them grow and succeed to a point where they meet expectations
(3) If (1) and (2) fail, it is on management to replace the person who cannot meet standards with someone who will.
(4) If management can't do (3), you're working at a company that is broken on all levels and you should look for the nearest door because every person at the company has failed at their jobs. This is not to say you should leave with a god complex and be a dick, you should realize you have found yourself in an unsuccessful team environment and should find a new place to work with a healthier environment.
As a person who is on a team, it is your job to try and help your teammates succeed to the best of your abilities without causing harm to yourself. If your team is unable to succeed with all people doing that, you have either unrealistic goals or a bad team (not necessarily the people have to be bad either, maybe its just you don't work well together) and need to make changes. If you bounce around to many jobs and find every team has the same issues, maybe reflect on what you might be doing to prevent team success.
Except a certain demographic at Silicon Valley and minimum wage unskilled workers, not many people can afford such mobility and in many places the management will just ignore you.
I think more people in that thread were defending that "Rick" was mismanaged, for quite a long time.
Wait. What is a 10x engineer?
According to the Silicon Valley Dictionary it's an engineer who is on average 10x more productive than other engineers. Aka, Rockstars.