Amazon calls it the single-threaded leader. Colin Bryar and Bill Carr describe the model in their book Working Backwards. In it, “a single person, unencumbered by competing responsibilities, owns a single major initiative.”
They quote Dave Limp, Amazon’s head of devices: “The best way to fail at inventing something is by making it somebody’s part-time job.” When Amazon decided to build up its digital media business, Jeff Bezos put Steve Kessel, then head of media retail, in charge. Kessel gave up his previous job. He did not run both.