The Attributes of a Unicorn 20x Engineer
Too Long; Didn't Read
We’ve all heard about the 10x engineer phrase, haven’t we? Did you know that the <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20130325002109/http://blogs.construx.com/blogs/stevemcc/archive/2008/03/27/productivity-variations-among-software-developers-and-teams-the-origin-of-quot-10x-quot.aspx" target="_blank">original study</a> back in the 1960s actually mentions a 20x difference between a great engineer and a bad one? It compared initial coding time, debugging time, program execution speed, program size…quite a thorough study, but definitely with some flaws (hey, it was the ‘60s). The general consensus is a 10x difference. I personally think that the difference can even be 20x for really great engineers, and I will explain why in this article.