At 21, as a newly minted computer science graduate, I faced a sobering realization.
I could never become a "10x engineer."
Coding speed? Solidly average at best.
Started making apps at age 10? Certainly not me.
Stereotypical nerdy tech bro, with the confidence to impress even the most intimidating of senior leadership?
Maybe as a costume.
Over the course of 5+ years at Meta however, my managers proved me wrong.
Luckily, I found that what actually makes a "10x” contributor—engineer, ADHD, or not—has nothing to do with fitting into a mold.
The Best Manager I Ever Had
In 5+ years, I’ve had ~9 different managers.
One did something different from the rest.
Where I saw a weakness, he picked up on crucial strengths:
What I saw : I couldn’t complete coding tasks at a super speed.
What he saw : High-level strategic thinking - I could see the big picture and took my time to get things right.
What I saw : I wasted valuable coding time responding to “urgent” messages.
What he saw : Stakeholder communication - I had valuable opinions that could quickly align cross-functional teams.
What I saw : I would get distracted by team inefficiencies.
What he saw : Organizational leadership - My frustrations led to an ability to create team structure from chaos.
Instead of trying to "fix" my weaknesses, he paired me with an engineer with opposite strengths. This person was brilliant at cranking out code but didn't enjoy high-level planning or stakeholder management.
The result? We became a powerhouse team.
I'd create the strategy and roadmap, and code the structure.
He'd execute the specifics faster and with less friction than either of us could have managed alone.
Instead of trying to make everyone a cookie-cutter "10x engineer," my manager pinpointed each team member's unique strengths and built a 10x team.
Visualize Your "Spikes"
In my first year as a junior engineer, one manager drew this on a whiteboard around performance review time.
For context, Meta and other big tech companies have 4 calibration axes. Let’s call them A, B, C, D.
As I stressed about my weak areas, he stopped me cold: “You’re wasting your time.” He added this dotted line.
It's not about being good at the same things as everyone else.
Struggling to improve a weakness beyond baseline competency will only get you so far. It’s a much better investment to pour the rest of your energy into your spikes.
Everyone has a spike somewhere, and that spike is your superpower.
The Two-Part Strategy - How to Reframe ADHD
Or any other "deficiency" you think you have.
Part 1: Baseline Your Weaknesses - Get your challenges to "good enough." Meet your brain where it’s at.
“I can’t focus for 4 hours” → “I can focus for 2 hours”
“I can’t block time like most people” → “I can block off the current hour”
“I can’t sit still” → “Do I need to sit still?”
Part 2: Spike Your Strengths - Take your “weaknesses” and find the hidden strengths.
“Highly distractible” → “Ability to notice connections others miss”
“Difficulty task switching” → “Ability to hyperfocus”
“Impulsive” → “Ability to think on your feet”
Espeically with ADHD, if you're good at something and interested, there's not much that can stop you.
Identify the spikes, then double down.
The 10x Engineer Lesson
The best teams aren't made of people with the same “best traits.” They're made of people with complementary spikes who cover each other's baseline areas.
That's how we got real "10x engineers" at the company:
One engineer so good at writing Messenger bots, his bots are now used by almost every engineer daily
One engineer so good at people management she grew the org size 10x
One engineer so good at strategically deleting code she saved critical server space Instagram relies on to run
Instead of forcing a fit into a nonexistent mold, supercharge your spikes to 10x yourself.
This Week: For You
Implement the 2-part strategy for your own brain:
List 3 “weaknesses.”
List 3 “spikes” that exist on the flip side of your “weaknesses.”
Circle one “spike” and write one idea of how you can spike it even more.
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— Kat