[smdz]

I have been called a 10xer (aka magician/one-man-army/genius/R2D2/etc..) quite a few times in my programming career. Sometimes I have felt that to be true but most times I just feel like a 1x.

Many years ago, one junior programmer asked me "How do you do it?". And I answered - "Trust your intuition". I realized later it was a "dumb" answer - but few years later I have realized the following (this may not be true for all 10xers):

I cannot remember a lot of things. Probably these memory issues are due to an undiagnosed ADD. But to compensate the memory issue, I have from an early age picked up the skill to see patterns, asking the right questions and attempting to understand things fundamentally (as much as needed to connect the dots). It exponentially increases the learning effort - but may be that extra effort gives me the intuition to solve/narrow down certain problems quickly. On top of that, I have tried to solve difficult problems just for fun - nobody had to ask me to do that. At times it is like Alice falling down the rabbit hole. I would become obsessed with solving that problem even if I had pending studies for exams next morning. All that added a plethora of experience/hours. If I find somebody solving a problem quickly when I am stuck (which in itself is a rare, because I tend seek help quite late), I typically ask questions on what they were thinking. May even dig into their mindset (to their discomfort) like a psychologist.

On the other hand, I am miserably just-average when I am not interested in certain work or do not understand its purpose.

If somebody feels like a 10x in their company, I advise them to move out to a team/company where they are back to 1x, and keep doing so until age catches up and slows them down.

[Narice]

Thank you very much, you described my experience perfectly and I went on researching what the "alice going down a rabbit hole" is: hyperfocus.[1] It is linked to ADHD (which can be both with or without hyperactivity, ADD being the old term for the inattentive ADHD type)[2] and for some additional info, ADHD is the most common coexisting condition to ASD (autism).[3] You might want to check that out! Thanks again for this fantastic comment, it is so relatable that I honestly could have written it myself!

[1] https://www.understood.org/articles/en/adhd-and-hyperfocus [2] https://www.verywellmind.com/add-and-attention-deficit-disor... [3] https://chadd.org/about-adhd/adhd-and-autism-spectrum-disord...

[Zababa]

> If I find somebody solving a problem quickly when I am stuck (which in itself is a rare, because I tend seek help quite late), I typically ask questions on what they were thinking. May even dig into their mindset (to their discomfort) like a psychologist.

As someone new on a big codebase, with lots of collegues with lots of experience, this part is really important. I try to not ask questions too early, but when I do, I make sure to try to dig a bit deeper. I ask other questions, about how it relates to other things I've learned. All of that help me build my understanding of the codebase, of the business, of the company and the people inside it quickly.