Software engineer Charity Majors challenges the "10x engineer" myth, arguing that true productivity lies in team performance, not individual brilliance. She encourages building workplaces where "normal" engineers can thrive. Are we focusing too much on hiring "the best" instead of the right people?
I feel like part of the problem is that management wants staff that can do a wide range of tasks when it ends up creating a staff that can’t specialize in a small group of tasks.
I’ve seen plenty of times where people can operate well as a cog on a big machine, but fall apart when they have to work in roles that require a variety of skillsets. Larger engineering companies can typically create enough work for people to specialize in smaller tasks than smaller engineering companies.