I believe the author merged the responsibilities of a "programmer" with an "Technical architect". To become a good programmer, all you need to do is enjoy reading books, enjoy coding, and work at a moderately sized company.

An architect is different. You have to understand the picture as a whole. You have to understand that one stupid decision can affect the entire product or company's future.

Hurrying to implement excellent code (as a programmer) won't could cost the company many weeks or months or effort to redo.