I've worked for companies where supposed senior devs write a massive amount of code without even the slightest indepth thought because they think they know everything.
Then the project turns out to be months late, even though I called the timeline of the project virtually unfeasible, and we have to go back and make several changes that could've been caught early on with a better strategy.
The problem with hiring the "best" engineers is as follows:
1. Nobody can ever tell you what the best means. People just throw 10x around without any explanation.
2. Most people in the world are average. You simply don't have enough of the best people to handle the work load, even if they're 10x average. So much existing software and new problems exist that it's nigh impossible to have the best everywhere.
3. Many of the best people are able to write really good code, but they consider it so easy that they often write code that they think is correct and it gets put in production. Since they're loners, they often don't do the necessary leg work either because of their own arrogance, or because the company hasn't clearly defined its processes and the developer can't even reach this goal despite numerous efforts. So management just believes the code is correct without any verification.
4. Many average developers support the best ones by taking needed work away from them through comparative advantage. Just because X employee is awesome at Y task, doesn't mean he meets the highest utility by doing Y task all the time. Especially when there are conflicting priorities.
5. The best engineers aren't going to be working at a small company in most cases. They also aren't likely to be paid well outside a large company either. The article sites Google, Facebook, and all the large tech companies and their supposed stringent interview process as a reason. But these companies have written terrible software (Google+, AMP pages) and become ethically compromised easily. Plus their interview process is often so outside the daily work flow because it involves answering algorithm questions, that it often makes no sense. Even worse, it teaches people to do katas instead of build actual projects. Project based interviews make much more sense.
6. Rewriting code bases is one of the worst things you can do and is what caused Netscapes downfall. Companies with supposedly the best engineers (ie. Netscape), can't even do it well.
So while hiring the best engineers is an awesome goal. It isn't feasible in a lot of cases.
I admit I have some bias as I consider myself pretty average. But I do a lot of crap on the side that "10x devs" don't even hear about because they're working on something more urgent. Does that mean I'm worthless?
it won't help you to have 11 'Lionel Messi's on your team.
good compatibility among players is much more preferable. It's probably better to have small robust teams that can work together, ppl who are avg in most required areas and are rockstars in certain specific ones.
Then the project turns out to be months late, even though I called the timeline of the project virtually unfeasible, and we have to go back and make several changes that could've been caught early on with a better strategy.
The problem with hiring the "best" engineers is as follows:
1. Nobody can ever tell you what the best means. People just throw 10x around without any explanation.
2. Most people in the world are average. You simply don't have enough of the best people to handle the work load, even if they're 10x average. So much existing software and new problems exist that it's nigh impossible to have the best everywhere.
3. Many of the best people are able to write really good code, but they consider it so easy that they often write code that they think is correct and it gets put in production. Since they're loners, they often don't do the necessary leg work either because of their own arrogance, or because the company hasn't clearly defined its processes and the developer can't even reach this goal despite numerous efforts. So management just believes the code is correct without any verification.
4. Many average developers support the best ones by taking needed work away from them through comparative advantage. Just because X employee is awesome at Y task, doesn't mean he meets the highest utility by doing Y task all the time. Especially when there are conflicting priorities.
5. The best engineers aren't going to be working at a small company in most cases. They also aren't likely to be paid well outside a large company either. The article sites Google, Facebook, and all the large tech companies and their supposed stringent interview process as a reason. But these companies have written terrible software (Google+, AMP pages) and become ethically compromised easily. Plus their interview process is often so outside the daily work flow because it involves answering algorithm questions, that it often makes no sense. Even worse, it teaches people to do katas instead of build actual projects. Project based interviews make much more sense.
6. Rewriting code bases is one of the worst things you can do and is what caused Netscapes downfall. Companies with supposedly the best engineers (ie. Netscape), can't even do it well.
So while hiring the best engineers is an awesome goal. It isn't feasible in a lot of cases.
I admit I have some bias as I consider myself pretty average. But I do a lot of crap on the side that "10x devs" don't even hear about because they're working on something more urgent. Does that mean I'm worthless?