You might have come across the term 10x Engineer already. There are countless articles on it trying to explain what it means and arguing whether or not it is something real or merely a buzzword. I personally have encountered this special term on Twitter a couple of months ago and haven’t thought much about it back then, as, you know, Twitter and its crazy trends… However, since Jonathan Cutrell picked up the topic of 10x Engineers in one of his ‘Developer Tea’ podcast episodes, I thought it might be worth looking into it a bit more indeed and browse the web for answers.
From the many resources I have had a look at, it quickly became clear to me that a 10x Engineer simply is the very best Software Engineer out of all the Software Engineers that have potentially ever lived — or at the very least that a company could ever hire nowadays. A 10x Engineer is supposedly capable of doing work worth a couple of Software Developers, maybe even the work of 10 Software Developers combined? At least this is not an uncommon conception on the job market, and you can find a lot of advise on “how to spot a 10x Engineer” for your company.
In order to make up our own minds about this mystery, let’s dive into the skills and talents of 10x Software Engineers according to the many authors who do back up the importance of those programming superheroes. James Turner for example is specifying 10 characteristics of “real 10x Engineers” as per the following (adjusted) list:
- They know their stuff, but also when to ask for help
- They can work alone, but also in a team
- They help others
- They have social skills
- They help you by challenging (and therefore nurturing) you
- They understand the basics (but stay up to date)
- They know what makes a difference, and what doesn’t
- They don’t try to make things unnecessarily complex
- They appreciate the team, the effort and growth
- They are valued by their colleagues
This is a very ‘social’ approach with regards to the talents a 10x Engineer should have. There is a strong focus on the willingness to help and to work within a team — and to make a positive impact overall. Another source is looking into the rather technical skills of those Developers and is exploring the way of working and knowledge that is needed in order to succeed. Here it is mentioned that for example
- continuous learning
- problem solving
- broad technical knowledge
- speedy solutions
- dedication to coding outside of work
are the must-have talents and attitudes of a 10x Superstar. The two articles show very different points, neither of them are probably any less valid, and maybe even dependent on the company and work itself. I personally am more of a fan of balance and golden mean though. Looking at those two resources in particular, and if anybody would ever ask me for my very own definition of a 10x Software Engineer, I would probably respond with something like that:
A 10x Software Engineer is someone, who has the necessary technical skills in order to do the job efficiently, but is willing and open to learn and grow — on their own, and equally well within a team. Social skills are not any less important than technical ones — and a 10x Software Engineer, or, as I might rather call it, as a Great Software Engineer, someone is able to contribute positively to their surrounding, which includes the company and the people.
In my own personal opinion, I think that every Software Developer should strive to be a so-called 10x Software Developer. Not for the sake of saving a company the costs of 9 more Engineers, but for the sake of strengthening the community of developers, supporting each other and making sure that we deliver the best results — for the company, but also for the human relations at the workplace. I am also not too sure about the term 10x itself though, and would therefore prefer to generalize it a bit more and call those talented Engineers simply ‘Great Engineers’ instead. But this is up to everybody personally to decide.
What matters in the end is that talented Engineers should get the recognition they deserve. And after all, let’s not forget that nobody is perfect!
…but let’s try to be as perfect as possible and order some essential 10x tools… ;)
