Whether or not the natural world has such wolves, its a well formed fictional archetype.

You assume "lone wolf" types are "one trick ponies" who can't learn. You also assume the only interesting problem space for these people is technical/code.

The lone wolf has a big limitations in transitioning to scale: 1. managers do what the article suggested, and stay out their way. The lone wolf never gets the experience of being managed, so it is difficult to transition to manage others. 2. they don't get why others don't "get it". e,g the solution is clear , the code can be done in a day, the comprehensive system model in their head should be shared by everyone.... it takes time to understand that the average engineer works slow and steady on a small scale understanding.

I will suggest there is a lone wolf type manager too. This is not a productivity skill, but an adaptivity and mobility skill.

A ”lone wolf” with a manager is a contradiction in terms.