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I don't think it's so much about practicing outside of work hours, it's more about being mindful about how you're going about what you're doing and evolving it to make more sense. If there's a trait I notice in mediocre developers it's more just that they have no interest in examining their own work habits. Its the guy that always reaches for the menu bar instead of learning keyboard shortcuts, or the guy that refuses to learn anything about functional programming because they want to stick to the basic java they learned in college.

> Its the guy that always reaches for the menu bar instead of learning keyboard shortcuts

I think judging someone based on their computer habits like being a command-line guy versus a GUI guy might be a risky thing. I'm a command-line guy through and through, but my newest boss comes from a different background and is very GUI-focused, and I think it would be easy to assume he's mediocre based on his choice of tools and such, but the results are more what matters.

That said, he seems like a pretty stubborn guy and I've definitely seen some warning signs on being resistant to change.

GUIs have had comprehensive keyboard shortcuts starting with the Apple Lisa and improving rapidly from there. Although they may have atrophied a bit in the man-bun Electron era.

A 1x developer at one of the tier 1 tech companies is...just a 1x developer - doesn't really matter where you're at.

Being a multiplier is not about just being technically proficient. It's about enabling your whole team to be more productive, and help getting to the right decisions, instead of decisions that might cost your team or coworkers huge amounts of extra work long term.

> Being a multiplier is not about just being technically proficient. It's about enabling your whole team to be more productive, and help getting to the right decisions, instead of decisions that might cost your team or coworkers huge amounts of extra work long term.

Thank you for this comment! I'll keep this in mind as I progress through my career. It's nice to know that it isn't just about being technical.

Also on getting your team to actually following those recommendations. I can be right every time, but still nobody wants to listen.

> "It's reassuring to see the push-back against the 10x developer idea, I'm starting to feel less guilty now when I spend my free time NOT on programming."

10x developers don't spend their free time programming, at least in my observation. They don't need to.

> "I want to ask though - the author works at Amazon and considers himself a 1x developer. "

A 1x developer would be an average (ok, fine, median) developer, no? About half are better and about half are worse. Compared to the bottom half of the statistical distribution, a 1x developer would by definition perform better.

> 10x developers don't spend their free time programming, at least in my observation. They don't need to.

Ah, I guess I need to read more about what people view as a 10x developer. I didn't mean to imply that a 10x developer spent all of their free time coding. I just meant that with companies, job descriptions, other dev, etc. talking about wanting a 10x developer I feel pressured to spend my free time programming, or at least doing something that would make me feel like I'm a worthy candidate.

> A 1x developer would be an average (ok, fine, median) developer, no? About half are better and about half are worse. Compared to the bottom half of the statistical distribution, a 1x developer would by definition perform better.

That makes sense. I guess what I'm trying to understand is, could you call yourself a 1x developer (or average) when working at a FAANG company? Doesn't working at a FAANG company imply that you are better than average, considering the status of these companies, their rigorous interview processes, and so on? I get the impression that FAANG only hires 10x developers, or at least developers that come across as 10x.

I apologize if I'm coming across argumentatively at all. I'm just trying to understand if the author is actually a 1x developer, or if they're a 1x developer at Amazon. Would a 1x developer at Amazon be a 10x developer elsewhere?

>Doesn't working at a FAANG company imply that you are better than average, considering the status of these companies, their rigorous interview processes, and so on?

No.

To me, sounds as if he is an 1x dev at Amazon and a 2x elsewhere, outside A., not 10x though.

What about forgetting about these X and instead do what seems like fun on the spare time :-)

Friends, family, side projects / books if you want to -- but then because you want to? Life is short

No. Average devs are average devs everywhere. Amazon's scale is different, but it's not like the scope of an individual dev's problems are inherently different at FAANG than not. Not everyone will work on the most intellectually intense pieces of code at FAANG companies; in fact most don't.

As long as you're not a -Nx programmer (or at least Nx where N >= 1), you're good.