I had the pleasure of hosting Gregor Ojstersek for a conversation on the less-emphasized aspects of high performance: great culture, good processes, and a positive mindset. He believes that the best teams have good relationships and can collaborate effectively, focusing on performance as a driver of the whole business, not solely on individual achievements.
With a unique stance on the notion of the '10x developer', Gregor challenges what the industry values in their highest performers. Does this unicorn that performs 10x the regular developer exist? Or is a 10x developer simply someone who knows how to pull out the best in others, so that together, they 10x the team performance? Fascinating view on individual vs. collective performance.
“The actual 10x engineers are the ones that are multiplying their efforts and making others around them better. With your individual contribution, you can increase your impact by a certain percentage. But if you help 5 or 10 or 20 or 100 people around you to be better then you can guess how much bigger the impact is.“
- Gregor Ojstersek
Tapping in his own experience as a CTO and thousands of hours of research for his Engineering Leadership publication, Gregor shares his insights on structuring teams and empowering good relationships, including curating the hiring process and setting clear expectations. He also discusses the negative impact of perfectionism, the importance of setting deadlines, and the role of managers in creating a supportive and collaborative environment.
Here are the main takeaways from this episode:
A great culture, good process, and a positive mindset are crucial for team and individual performance.
Building good relationships and effective collaboration are key to creating high-performing teams.
Empathy and helping others are important qualities for developers, and the '10x developer' is someone who multiplies their impact by making others better.
Successful hiring focuses on candidates who are team players and show a deep interest in the business and product.
Clear expectations and regular feedback create a supportive and collaborative environment.
Prioritizing value delivery over perfectionism leads to faster customer outcomes.
Involving engineers in customer discussions and feedback provides a better understanding of user needs.
Metrics are valuable for tracking progress, but they should be interpreted carefully and not used as the sole measure of performance.
Check out Gregor’s Newsletter for a deeper dive into all of this.
Listen now on Apple and Spotify.
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The Real 10x Developer: Multiplying Impact by Empowering Others with Gregor Ojstersek