This line of ESR's

> As Linux grows, there will come a time when your raw talent is not enough.

is the key bit.

...and I think it was proven true several years back, when Linus found it increasing hard to keep on top of dealing with the inflow of bug fixes, patches, features, etc.

Raw talent is never enough for the really big problems. Proper use of routines and procedures are a brain amplifying technology.