10x developer is absolutely a thing, in the easily observed phenomenon that some developers are 10x more productive than other developers. The "other developers" are earning good wages and doing good work; the 10x developer is usually found making 2x or 3x the norm.
That said; I just can't believe that a team can perform 10x by the actions of one person. This claim is so outlandish I may just have to skim the article. It is often the case that having a 10x developer nearby can greatly improve the quality of a product, but that's not the same thing as improving the team.
I didn't used to believe in the 10x developer, until I worked with one. This guy was amazing. Not only was he wildly productive and wickedly smart, but he also cared about the people around him and would give talks about how he solved some crazy hard problem in 1/10th the time that was estimated. Had I been smart enough to follow him where he want, I totally would have.
> the easily observed phenomenon that some developers are 10x more productive than other developers.
How are you measuring? LOC? Semi-colons per hour? story points? If you're measuring in "dollars earned", how do you think their managers are measuring? And can they tell the difference between a 10x programmer and an 11x programmer?
My point is, at large companies with lots of very competent developers (I've worked at two of these: Salesforce and Twitter), 10X developers are not a thing on any useful metric I can think of.
The places I _have_ seen someone be 10X better than the people around them has been more a function of the people around them (their overall ineptitude) vs that individual.
That said; I just can't believe that a team can perform 10x by the actions of one person. This claim is so outlandish I may just have to skim the article. It is often the case that having a 10x developer nearby can greatly improve the quality of a product, but that's not the same thing as improving the team.