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Comment by Sterm | Hacker News Reader

Anyone can be a 10x engineer, it's just that the majority prefer mediocrity. If you chose to be less than you can be that's on you not the people who improved themselves.

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Your first statement is true. But the Ratatouille quote applies here; "Not everyone can become a great artist; but a great artist can come from anywhere"

The majority don't prefer mediocrity. That's all they really can do. We just don't know which of the majority actually has the mythical 10x ability that easily.

No, the majority are not prepared for the absolute obliteration of their ego they will suffer to become a 10x engineer. The problem isn't one of time, ability or whatever ineffable quality, but one of character. Ironically enough I think that a boot camp with the emotional abuse the marines used to get in the 50s while going through Knuth's papers would produce a lot of 10x programmers.

None of the 10x engineers I know (maybe some are 5x) try that hard. They didn't need to be abused. They were just naturally good at coding. I don't believe you can abuse someone into 10x abilities.

I meant more the term 10x engineer and what it's come to stand for over the years.

If we're just talking about the simple root premise some people are 10x more effective / efficient or simply deliver 10x the output at the same or better quality - sure yes I absolutely know those people and while I wouldn't consider myself one of them I certainly tend to get a lot more done than the average engineer I work with.

However - I don't agree with you that _anyone_ can be 10x "better" than the average person as I regularly encounter people that do not have innate logic and troubleshooting skills nor the curiosity required. I do agree that plenty of folks are content with mediocrity - most of them have ended up in "enterprise" companies.

So what if I choose to spend a decent amount of time and resources improving myself along other non software engineering facets?

Then you did not chose to be a 10x engineer. The same way you probably are only mediocre in your hobbies (unless you quit your job and focused on that only)

Don’t be sad. It’s okay that other people do something better than you. Be happy you play disc golf, but the 10x engineer makes more PRs than you. Which do you want more.

What I hear is you envy somebody else choices, and want to vilify them because you can’t compete with them because you made different life choices.

It’s like you are mad that Serena Williams did so much better than you did, but you only played tennis on the weekends with your friend.

10xer can play disk golf too. They might sleep 8 hours and shower too.

Yah for sure. But if you are not a 10x and want to be. Then you got to prioritize what you spend your time on.

True. Now this is where ymmv but time away from the screen and sleep, while slowing down productivity this week is better long term. Not because it is healthy (it is) but programming in a nonlinear endeavour. During downtime you can realize the thing you are even working on is not the best thing. Or reevaluate overall strategy.

Then you're not a 10x engineer and will be filling out your hours in SAP and getting your tickets from Jira.

Personally that sounds like a new circle of hell but I've had people ask me to bring back Jira for a project I was managing so there are truly all kinds.

All the 10x engineers I have come across in my life often had the most non engineering hobbies and after work activities going on. They are like that kid in school who never needs to study to get an A and for whom things just click immediately.

Everything you do in life should be focused on becoming better at computers. All hail computers.

I think we can be honest that neither extreme is correct here.

A lot of people choose to be mediocre developers, but likewise a lot of people try very hard to be good but simply don't have the cognitive capacity or organization to excel.

Also environment has lot to do, give that mystical 10x developer boring ops/feature-factory job and watch him become 0.1x developer.

Give him rich parents and watch him start a company.

This rings so true.

(Cognitive Ability) * (Engineering Ability) * (Problem Solving Ability) * (Attention to Correct Details) * (Eagerness to Labor and Work)

There are real 10x engineers. And there are also 0.1x engineers. And plenty in between.

And lots of things impact job performance. Burnout, life satisfaction, interesting problems, ...

Yes! Absolutely. It is not all or nothing, it very rarely is and the internet is quick to forget that.

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