I've worked with a few developers who are great - people who get bored of waiting so just build it themselves one evening whilst everybody's arguing over funding/recruiting the team we thought was needed.
Within a team, I think 'greatness' comes in all manner of different forms, all of which are needed.
The person who holds the whole software model in their head, and can rattle off the precise changes required to implement a new feature.
The person who has an encyclopedic knowledge of all the technologies, and often spotted sat next to another engineer helping them through an issue.
The person who mid-way through implementation spots a flaw or an improvement that can be make to the process and comes back offering options for improvement.
Of course it's great to have the person who comes back after 2 weeks having written more code than the rest put together - but.. well monoculture is always bad. Wouldn't want a team of them.
Within a team, I think 'greatness' comes in all manner of different forms, all of which are needed. The person who holds the whole software model in their head, and can rattle off the precise changes required to implement a new feature. The person who has an encyclopedic knowledge of all the technologies, and often spotted sat next to another engineer helping them through an issue. The person who mid-way through implementation spots a flaw or an improvement that can be make to the process and comes back offering options for improvement. Of course it's great to have the person who comes back after 2 weeks having written more code than the rest put together - but.. well monoculture is always bad. Wouldn't want a team of them.