Engineering Unblocked How to hire normal engineers and help them do great work with Charity Majors from Honeycomb
18 snips
Jul 22, 2025 
Charity Majors, CTO and co-founder of Honeycomb, champions the power of 'normal' engineers over the myth of '10x developers'. She argues for systems that support everyday engineers, emphasizing that resilience stems from diverse teams. The conversation highlights the importance of team collaboration and the pitfalls of focusing solely on individual metrics. Additionally, Charity discusses her journey in management and how it intertwines with maintaining technical skills and fostering team spirit, challenging conventional wisdom on career progression.
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The Myth of 10x Engineers
- The obsession with hiring 10x engineers stems from a desire to shortcut efforts and get more done with fewer people.
- True excellence is rare, temporary, and situational; most engineers are "normal" and valuable within well-designed systems.
Enable Normal Engineers with Systems
- Build systems with CICD, tests, documentation, internal tooling, and observability to empower normal engineers.
- Prioritize inclusion to create diverse, resilient teams that perform better over the long term.
10x Leverage Is Team Resilience
- 10x leverage is not about individual superstars but about resilient teams that own software collectively.
- Consistent 10x performance by individuals or teams is extremely rare and not a helpful mindset.
