Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

> In one analogy it could be the 10x bricklayer. One who does a well defined job 10 times faster than the others.

Software as brick-laying gets a laugh out of me. If someone uses that analogy, that's a red-flag: they don't really understand software (and tech). It's like offshored bodyshops that just keep throwing more warm bodies at a codebase.

Truth is, a 10x isn't someone who lays bricks 10 times faster. A 10x is someone who thinks differently. Instead of building you a something with load-bearing walls, he'll innovate and use an internal steel frame, paving the way for your building to be taller than anything previously considered possible. [0]

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Home_Insurance_Building



I think this is entirely correct. In this framework we wouldn't call it a 10x programmer, but a 10x thinker.


>> In one analogy it could be the 10x bricklayer. One who does a well defined job 10 times faster than the others.

> Software as brick-laying gets a laugh out of me.

I think that may have been precisely GP's point: The quantitatively-exact-sounding "10x" could possibly be used about an easily-measured well-defined task like brick-laying (which usage could be confirmed by the occurrence of variants like "I'm actually a 12x [or only a 9x] bricklayer"), but not about less well-defined / measurable crafts like programming.


> It's like offshored bodyshops that just keep throwing more warm bodies at a codebase.

Yet they are doing software, aren't they ? So bricklaying has to be part of the "writing software" definition.




Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: