What makes a 10x Engineer?

In 10x Engineer, Shanley went into detail on how 10x engineers are a myth. In truth, they burn out and become 0x or -10x engineers.

I agree that most of her post is spot on. At some point, something’s got to give. You have to have a balance between giving it your all and burning yourself out.

I disagree that 10x engineers are a myth. Primarliy because of this statement in her post:

It keeps us from having to specifically define what we actually value in programmers, preventing us from critical reflection on what we need in our teams, companies and community.

To me, a 10x engineer is just someone that is “better” than a 9x engineer. In CS terms, I am an (n-1)x engineer, and I believe in an nx engineer.

I want to know what makes someone a better programmer than I am. I know they exist, because I get to work with them every day. I can’t quite define what I mean by “better” though.

I know what “better” should mean at least. It should be objective. It should be quantifyable and actionable. It should be a quality I can incrementally get better at.

So, what does it mean to be a great programmer?