[zzalpha]

It seems counter-intuitive, but read on industrial engineering practices around optimizing an assembly line and you'll see it shown all around.

Development isn't an assembly line, and the fact you'd use that analogy says a lot...

If that happens to be one developer who has their hands in 50% of the code (that others couldn't support if they wanted), then the rest of your team exists to support that one developer.

Oh heck no.

If one person or only a few people are creating most of the value on the team, the team is dysfunctional and you've exposed yourself to enormous risk. If those people leave, fall ill, get injured, or go on vacation, you and the team are screwed. If you, as a manager, have put yourself in that situation, you have failed.

[noobiemcfoob]

All work is an assembly line. It's not a value statement, and it doesn't take the art away from the work. Work is work is work. Developers just have their head shoved too fair to get away from feeling like special snowflakes.

You're talking about risk management, not individual worker ability. Yes, it is a poor idea to have any one portion of a system maintained by only one person. So don't. It is a poor idea to have only one person who understands the system architecture. So don't. It's a poor idea to not recognize the different strengths and weaknesses of all your workers regardless of context. So don't.

[itscrunchtime]

I wouldn't want to work for you.

[noobiemcfoob]

Good to know.