Tech leaders must decide between the heroic 'Jordan' who delivers alone and the collaborative 'Magic' who amplifies the whole team; the piece shows why the multiplier model sustains long-term performance.
A team of five 10x engineers often underperforms a cohesive crew because the system depends on single points of failure. The article frames this tension with two basketball legends: Michael Jordan, the vertical hero who spikes individual output, and Magic Johnson, the horizontal multiplier who lifts everyone around him.
Jordan-type staff engineers can ship critical fixes at 3 am, rewrite core engines solo, and set brutal standards, but they also create pressure-driven cultures where burnout spikes and knowledge hoarding threatens continuity. When the 'Jordan' leaves, the team's velocity collapses.
Magic-type leaders invest in interfaces: clean APIs, documentation, mentorship, and collaboration rituals. Their impact is measured not by personal output but by the 20 % performance boost they unlock in peers. This multiplier mindset reduces burnout, spreads ownership, and scales more reliably as organizations grow.
For managers, the shift from hero to multiplier is an internal refactor. It means letting go of ego, redefining success as system health, and deliberately building structures that let many people act. The core argument is that the hero wins the sprint, but the multiplier wins the roadmap.
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