The 10x programmer is a myth

But the 1/10 programmer is real.

There are only 24 hours in a day, and that is the same for everyone. That is what I thought to myself when I studied in the backwaters. That is what got me in the door at competitive employment opportunities. That is how I make my living today.

There are only 24 hours in a day, but how you use your time is up to you. Most developers work hard and put in long hours at times. There is little to gain as a developer aiming to 10x by just working harder and longer than others. This is where the 1/10 developing comes in: there is not much to gain by overclocking, but efficiency is more or less unlimited.

There are only a handful of people throughout my career that I have worked with and would call 10x. The one trait that they hold in common is not that they type faster, it is rather than they don’t get blocked and lose time. Even when taking on harder problems, being able to efficiently diagnose and treat the problem is a hallmark of 1/10x thinking.

So next time you hear someone talk of 10x programming, try rethinking that phrase into a fraction. Once you get the algebra right, it starts to make more sense, and becoming a 1/10x developer becomes possible.