You bring up an interesting point. I have not seen this in flat or small companies as I have not worked in many. But I imagine that those surrounding the engine

You bring up an interesting point. I have not seen this in flat or small companies as I have not worked in many. But I imagine that those surrounding the engineer will still feel that their expectations are no longer met if the engineer tries to return to normality from their superhero role. Though perhaps the colleagues might understand the full circumstances of the situation better in a tighter or less hierarchical team. Ultimately, if someone has the engineer's back when they need to stop being the proverbial "Atlas who holds up the world", then maybe things could end better. But there are few managers that have the insight to notice it and grace to do something about it. The kind manager (or colleague) described in the article we are discussing is not common. So whatever the circumstances, generally it does end badly if the engineer significantly over-commits to save the project.