> “10x engineer” makes it sound like productivity is an immutable characteristic of a person.
Because it is. Traits like intelligence or dedication really fluctuate during person's lifetime.
> If you have services or software components that are owned by a single engineer, that person is a single point of failure.
If you have a service owned by a person, you have a single entity responsible for this service. If you have a team of 10 people owning a service, each person gives only one tenth of a fuck, making any change take ten times as much time as it should, and there are ten different visions of the project playing out at once.
> The best engineering organizations are the ones where normal engineers can do great work
Strong agree. As an 10x engineer in an organization of 1x engineers, my life is perfect, because I get my shit done in one hour and go home and nobody gives a fuck. In an environment of 10x engineers I'd need to actually work 40h a week.
> Build sociotechnical systems with “normal people” in mind
Valid point. My manager asks me how do I do this that I deliver projects on time, they work correctly, and people are happy to work with me. The answer is simple: I treat everyone like an incompetent lazy fuck. This assumption allows me to create designs that are much less likely to fail.
You can see example of this by studying how big tech works. Usually they replace individual creativity with processes for people who can't think.
> A great engineering organization is one where you don’t have to be one of the best engineers in the world to have a lot of impact.
Not possible. Either you're a 10x engineer, or you're a cog in a big machine. Can't eat a cake and have a cake.
> Don’t hire the “best” people. Hire the right people
Because it is. Traits like intelligence or dedication really fluctuate during person's lifetime.
> If you have services or software components that are owned by a single engineer, that person is a single point of failure.
If you have a service owned by a person, you have a single entity responsible for this service. If you have a team of 10 people owning a service, each person gives only one tenth of a fuck, making any change take ten times as much time as it should, and there are ten different visions of the project playing out at once.
> The best engineering organizations are the ones where normal engineers can do great work
Strong agree. As an 10x engineer in an organization of 1x engineers, my life is perfect, because I get my shit done in one hour and go home and nobody gives a fuck. In an environment of 10x engineers I'd need to actually work 40h a week.
> Build sociotechnical systems with “normal people” in mind
Valid point. My manager asks me how do I do this that I deliver projects on time, they work correctly, and people are happy to work with me. The answer is simple: I treat everyone like an incompetent lazy fuck. This assumption allows me to create designs that are much less likely to fail.
You can see example of this by studying how big tech works. Usually they replace individual creativity with processes for people who can't think.
> A great engineering organization is one where you don’t have to be one of the best engineers in the world to have a lot of impact.
Not possible. Either you're a 10x engineer, or you're a cog in a big machine. Can't eat a cake and have a cake.
> Don’t hire the “best” people. Hire the right people
This paragraph is just ChatGPT slop.