[chaetodon]

IMHO an alpha engineer should do one of two things:

1) Architect the application and divide the detail programming in enough well-defined subtasks that lesser gods can start working on these subtasks while the alpha starts engineering further. Well-defined subtasks need relatively little communication, and economies of scale are used. 2) Add the brilliance to an existing framework built by beta engineers (Like Rembrandt painting the lace on the painting of an apprentice).

It basically depends on where a product is in the life cycle which of the two strategies is most effective.

[bdehaaff]

Good addition. The Alpha needs to be cognizant of the lifecycle of a given project and be able to motivate a broader team.