You know that guy who’s the star performer? Who thinks he’s a star performer that’s so good he can’t be on a team with anyone else? No one else can contribute to what he does. That’s the guy you need to part ways with. No one should be allowed to go it alone . Yes, the “star” sole contributor might accept some feedback grudgingly from his boss or some other superior, but never from a colleague, never from someone who’s not an expert like he is. I understand, he’s an artist, he’s got it all figured out, but that is no way to build a team. That is no way to be successful.  In your mind you think, “Maybe I don’t need to address it, his work is good and though people know he is playing by his own rules maybe it isn’t hurting the team too much.”

The fact is if you don’t address it other people will think that is the way they can operate. That is not how you obtain long-term success. Do not let people go alone.  I am not proposing doing work by committee, but there isn’t a person in the world today who is perfect. There isn’t a person who isn’t tempted to take shortcuts, who gets tired, and who couldn’t use a little help. You do not want a team that is made up of just individual contributors, you want teammates, people who can work together, who know about how they work and know how they produce. A team that will sink into rhythm and flow.

Having people act as individual contributors without anyone else is a bad situation. You’re definitely prone to much greater risk. People who act as individual contributors will be focused on their individual accomplishments, so their success can come even at the cost of team failure.

I would strongly encourage anyone in that situation to make sure there is at least one other person that every team member can partner with.  It is not good for someone to go heads down on their work and then show it at the end of the cycle. This is not a good policy.  They don’t get a chance to understand whether the progress they are making is good or bad.  It is better for them to be completely open and expose their work entirely to someone else. In that way, you can find the mistakes much earlier and you can get an understanding of what they’re doing fits into the larger picture.