Re:State of the 10x Programmer in 2018
by andrewstuart on Sunday February 18, 2018 @10:43PM
(#16410610)
Another HUGE factor on a programmers productivity is simply their level of interest and personal motivation for this particular piece of work. If a programmer finds it interesting then they likely will be much better at it than if they are less interested or worse, actively hostile towards the work, which happens alot.
Re:State of the 10x Programmer in 2018
by peterarmstrong on Sunday February 18, 2018 @10:58PM
(#16410659)
Absolutely! (I've observed this in myself and many others. This is probably the biggest advantage a startup has, btw.)
No.
It is just not true that any 1x programmer can be a 10x programmer.
General intelligence, working memory and the ability to focus for extended periods of time can be slightly improved but cannot be improved by an order of magnitude.
It is a noble fiction to pretend otherwise. But it's still a lie.
In a large organization, it arguably helps to make the 1x programmers into 1.5x (or 2x or 3x) programmers, and the 2x programmers into 3x ones. But it does not make a 1x programmer into a 10x one. Whether that's possible has probably already been decided before you met the person.