Be at the helm
For the past several days I have been working closely with Claude during a migration of a critical part of my project. In the beginning it was overwhelming: I had to familiarize myself with the new API and make sure it is integrated flawlessly into existing business logic.
Over the course of days the picture became clearer and I even started enjoying the process. The reason is simple — I was in control. I was at the helm. Like Captain Picard on the Enterprise (it is only fitting that I have started watching Star Trek: The New Generation right before this).
The reason I was in control is because I didn't give Claude simple commands like "do this, make no mistakes". This doesn't work with current models, even if there is a group of agents writing code and thinking for several hours. There is a high chance the result will be unusable or at the very least unmaintainable.
My requirement was for it to be more maintainable after migration, not less. For this I had to understand everything fully, even more so than before.
And credit is where credit due: it was Claude who wrote thousands of lines of code for the automated tests. But at the same time it was me, who was constantly nudging it and verifying it with code coverage reports. Claude was my minion, and I was the commander. And this partnership allowed me to gain new insights and better control of my own project than ever before.
So I wouldn't be so dismissive of the saying "10x engineer", but keep in mind that for it to be uncovered truly, the engineer must be capable as well. "Make no mistakes" just won't cut it.