This probably sounds arrogant, but I am pretty sure I'm a 10x programmer or at least 5x. I don't consider myself all that smart, though, I just seem to have a weird ability to get things done without much hassle. I feel like the 10x guys have a mentality where they're able to break things down without getting bogged down with the complexity of the whole thing. It's not that they're necessarily geniuses at understanding complexity - it's that they're able to break down complexity into simple parts.
Anyway, I kinda feel like just as there are 10x programmers, there are also -10x programmers. I'd say, even -100x. It's crazy how much time one person on the team can actually burn. One -10x person can suck up two 10x programmers' entire day with support and still create an absolute mess that has to be re-written. A piece of code that's solid will just run. A piece of junk can introduce bizarre, intermittent bugs that the team will be fixing for months.
I've noticed that -10x guys have a crazy knack for hiding their errors too. They'll figure out a way to get some botched code past unit tests and QA. Sometimes there appears to be an incredible amount of labor that went into circumventing every obstacle which was designed to prevent shooting themself in the foot!
Anyway, not sure the point of my post. But, I do believe that the 10x guys are out there and they can produce 10x without burning themselves out because they just have a way of looking at things that make them more simple.
Anyway, I kinda feel like just as there are 10x programmers, there are also -10x programmers. I'd say, even -100x. It's crazy how much time one person on the team can actually burn. One -10x person can suck up two 10x programmers' entire day with support and still create an absolute mess that has to be re-written. A piece of code that's solid will just run. A piece of junk can introduce bizarre, intermittent bugs that the team will be fixing for months.
I've noticed that -10x guys have a crazy knack for hiding their errors too. They'll figure out a way to get some botched code past unit tests and QA. Sometimes there appears to be an incredible amount of labor that went into circumventing every obstacle which was designed to prevent shooting themself in the foot!
Anyway, not sure the point of my post. But, I do believe that the 10x guys are out there and they can produce 10x without burning themselves out because they just have a way of looking at things that make them more simple.