The 10x engineers I have met during my 20 years on the job are the ones who are able to create beautifully and well thought-out written software in a fraction of the time it would take other developers on the team.<p>The "getting it done" type guys (which I call the "gluers") usually end up creating maintenance nightmares and the perfectionists (whom I like the call "the professors") usually come up with some really good, left-field, ideas but mostly you don't want them on your team, maybe to write documentation, since often they have a knack for writing.