The other day, I was listening to an interview with John Ousterhout, a computer science professor at Stanford and author of “A Philosophy of Software Design.” The concept of a “tactical tornado” really caught my attention. Here’s what it means:
A prolific programmer who produces code faster than others. They work in a completely tactical way, prioritizing the rapid implementation of features. Their focus is short-term (tactical), whereas software design considers the long-term (strategic).
Some organizations, especially startups that value speed, might treat them like heroes because of their initial quickness. However, they leave a “wave of destruction” in their wake.
Unlike a “10x engineer,” who focuses on clean designs that can be implemented with less code and result in more stable and scalable solutions, the “tactical tornado” is all about getting things done fast.
Sometimes, less technical management can confuse them with “10x engineers” because they only see the rapid delivery, without understanding the technical debt being generated and how it slows others down.
I remember one time I hired a programmer who fit this profile. At first, everything moved very quickly; deliveries just kept coming. Gradually, I realized that some things weren’t quite working as expected, especially edge cases. When I finally delved into the code, it was a disaster.