Dave Winer wrote an interesting essay on the topic of formats and working together - I think it's mostly reasonable, but I do have a problem with one section: the relevance of personalities:

The people who make it about personalities are missing everything. It’s as if what was going on on a baseball field is a result of personalities. To some extent of course it is, but it’s also about how you swing a bat, catch and throw a ball, how good your eye is and how good your mind is. In software the quality of your thinking matters even more, in fact that’s all there is. And so many people miss the big picture, without even trying to see it. The notable thing about Phil, is that in a crowd of people who aren’t trying, he is. His reasoning ability isn’t remarkable, what is remarkable is that he cares enough to reason. And if you want to do that, you need to get your mind out of the schoolyard, and start thinking about the media revolution we’re in the middle of.

Personality impacts every other aspect of work - in tech and in sports. The attempt at a sports analogy is interesting - there are plenty of examples of teams riven by internecine conflict: The Eagles last year come immediately to mind. If you don't think that the war of words between McNabb and Terrell Owens impacted the team last season, you don't know sports. Look at the Yankees back in the 80's - lots of talent, no World Series trips. Look at the Red Sox in the years before their Series win - a lot of their problems had to do with internal conflict.

When one person becomes the center of a storm, it creates side effects. Read Tim Bray's post from this morning, and you'll understand how and why Atom came to be. It was due to the intransigence of exactly one person.