The idea of the 10x programmer probably originated with Peopleware. The authors ran pairs of developers from the same organization through a “coding wars” exercise. They collected data from many organizations over several years and measured that the best coders did about 10x better than the worst and about 2.5x better than the median ones.

But, probably everything you have heard about what that means is wrong.

For one, even though the pairs did not work together at all, their results were highly correlated with each other. Secondly, the participants in the exercise worked at their desks in their normal working environment. Finally, there wasn’t a correlation to experience level or technology used.

The authors conclude that the organizational environment and culture is a major factor in the effectiveness of its programmers.

The bald fact is that many companies provide developers with a workplace that is so crowded, noisy, and interruptive as to fill their days with frustration. That alone could explain reduced efficiency as well as a tendency for good people to migrate elsewhere.

So, how do you become a 10x programmer? By changing jobs to an organization that provides an environment where you can be effective.