Do 10X engineers really exist?

Do 10X engineers really exist? Here's what Steve Jobs said.

>>Most things in life have a dynamic range in which the ratio of “average” to “best” is at most 2:1.

For example, if you go to New York City and get an average taxi cab driver, versus the best taxi cab driver, you’ll probably get to your destination with the best taxi driver 30% faster.

And an automobile; what’s the difference between the average car and the best? Maybe 20%?

The best CD player versus the average CD player? Maybe 20%?

So 2:1 is a big dynamic range for most things in life.

Now, in software, and it used to be the case in hardware, the difference between the average software developer and the best is 50:1; maybe even 100:1.

Very few things in life are like this, but what I was lucky enough to spend my life doing, which is software, is like this.

So I’ve built a lot of my success on finding these truly gifted people, and not settling for “B” and “C” players, but really going for the “A” players.
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I personally have the fortune to work with and lead many of these 10X engineers at Amazon and Adobe.

Here are some common 10X engineer traits I see.

1.They take pride in their craft. They care deeply. You will find them refactoring critical stuff that no one is aware of. They do it not for credit or bragging rights, but for the love of their craft.

2.They obsessively protect their time. They can seem rude from outside; they are not afraid to say no and let low value stuff drop.

3. They never make excuses. They don't say it cant be done. Instead they give options on what can be done given the constraints. They love the challenge, when someone says it cant be done.

4. They under promise and over deliver. Even on rare occasions, when they over promise, they stretch and over deliver.

5. They build quick prototypes. If you ask them if something hard can be done, they immediately prototype when unsure.

6. They are curious. They are always trying new and better tech on the side even if their main work does not give them that opportunity.
They always have a couple of cool side projects.

7. They obsessively invest for speed. They invest in best tools, they invest in their typing speed, they invest in short-cuts, automation. They eliminating steps. They love command line. All of these compounds and gives them super hero speed.

8. They run away from teams with politics, braggers and weak managers. They value and contribute to team culture and collaboration.

9. They almost always have some unique quirks. Some hate meetings, some don't like operations, some don't like documenting, some don't like giving presentations, some don't like talking to upper management. They stick around managers and teams who value them for their super powers, rather than who try "to fix them" and make the fish climb a tree.

What other traits have you seen in 10X engineers?