zlacker

Interesting post, I hadn't seen that before. Here is another factor to worry about: If you hire too many mediocre programmers, the good ones will leave. (Trust me, they can get jobs easily.) You'll be stuck with the mediocre ones.

http://brucefwebster.com/2008/04/11/the-wetware-crisis-the-d...

I think the NetFlix strategy is partly a response to this.

People pretend there is a 10x difference between programmers. I assure you that is way too low. The difference is actually Infinite, because contributions can be negative (I've seen a bad programmer set back a project by 6 months). Even worse, a programmer can create a toxic atmosphere, causing good programmers to leave.

I like the NetFlix strategy. Some people are just a hell of a lot more productive than other people. (Example: http://bellard.org/ )

>>BraveN+(OP)
I assure you that is way too low. The difference is actually Infinite

Exactly. There's also the case when someone is highly productive but only for themselves. They create all their own tools, their own environments, their own platforms, they follow their own homemade software development practices, use their own testing tools, and none of it integrates with the rest of the world. But, because one person made everything, that single person is super productive (as long as they never step outside their own platform). They don't need documentation because they made everything from the ground up and their systems reflect their personal brain state.

Then you have to ask, even though one person is 10x, does it really help if nobody else can integrate with their work? Then every request, feature, bug fix is a bottle neck of 1 person no matter how much outside help you give them.

Your link also relates a lot to social platform evaporation: http://blog.bumblebeelabs.com/social-software-sundays-2-the-... — all the good people leave because too many mediocre people become a burden. Now you're left with a platform for ants.