Why Hiring Rockstars Is Harmful to Your Organization

I worked in many teams and projects. Each time we had a "rockstar" in the team, he was worth more than 3 regular guys.

In the last project most echnical decisions where made/influenced by the rockstar and we saved so much time with playing arround or programming things that brake in the future.

As a recruiter I would never hire rockstars-only. But I would definitely make sure that I have a good ratio of them.

I think the author got the terminology all wrong. They say don't hire a rockstar but what they mean is don't hire a really talented asshole. I love how they give an example of a talented person, whom for all we know was mis-managed and had all of the work piled on her because management was incapable of hiring a decent team. I'm not sure where the authors perspective comes from, but I've certainly worked on a team where most people couldn't code the simplest of things, and the few of us that were good were pressured to make up the difference and deliver despite the teams shortcomings. In the end the advice is as simple as hire really talented people, but be ready to manage or mentor them in how to manage. Don't hire really talented people that are massive jerks.