I am always posting provoking post on my Linkedin, and I have decided to replicate those here. Let's socialize!
"Someone who is exceptional in their role is not just a little better than someone who is pretty good. They are 100 times better" - Mark Zuckerberg argued when asked why he was willing to pay $47 million to acquire FriendFeed, a price that translated to about $4 million per employee.
Regardless of what the CEO of Facebook think, studies show that the 10x developer is not a myth. I particularly have seen few bad decisions costing millions to companies.
The biggest problem with the pushback against a 10x programmer is that some people think of programming as manual labour and programmers as assembly line workers. They will ask, "If you are building a company, would you prefer one standout person over ten pretty good people?"
The logic above makes it sound like programming productivity is all about typing speed. It's not about writing more code; it's about writing the right code. You become a 10x programmer not by doing an order of magnitude more work but by making better decisions more often.
A single programmer could easily outperform a team of 10 if the programmer can model the problem in a way where there is an order of magnitude less work to do.
A great programmer will ensure principles, guidelines, automation, tools and frameworks to improve the whole company's performance and customer satisfaction.
I'm certainly not suggesting that leaders who are growing companies or building teams should only hire rockstars. I actually believe it would be a mistake. Companies should invest in strong teams rather than individuals. However, managers need to be aware of the value of an outstanding developer.
Top comments (4)
It's a myth, kinda. Of course there are outstanding developers, as there are outstanding painters, and lawyers.
I think the 10x label has done more bad things that good things, in particular with newer developers and young people. I think this ties in with the excess of impostor syndrome in the industry. As many people think they should be the best, be a full stack senior devops manager extraordinaire... that's bullshit. Not everyone should aim to be a "10x" developer.
Also many don't realize the amount of work, effort and discipline it takes to even become a 5x developer... So they feel frustrated, when their 1-month bootcamp has not landed them a Senior job... I think I'm rambling so I will stop here.
Yes we should recognize them, but not force or make everyone think they should be. There's nothing bad being a junior or mid-level dev, not everyone has the desire to become the best. Like in anything else in life.
Recognize them, but don't expect everyone to want to become one.
If everyone was a 10x developer, imagine how much more you have to pay them to make the work of a junior... We need all types of levels...