Engineering is not a single indivisible concept. There are many aspects to engineering, and all are necessary. No one individual will ever be good at all aspects. If can restrict you requirements thenyou can find them in a single individual. To cover all of engineering you need multiple individuals.
Yup, that's it...
Back in 1990 I was incredibly lucky to be able to join a fledgling startup company that was set up by a group of very talented (middle aged) engineers that broke away from a well known UK defence/TEqpt company. These guys were amongst the most talented engineers you can imagine and I learned a lot from being able to sit with them and watch how they designed stuff and how they dealt with problems or new concepts etc.
BUT... I also quickly learned that everyone has holes in their knowledge base including these guys and sometimes the existence of these holes in their knowledge came as a surprise even to a comparative novice like myself at the time. But then nobody can know it all.
However, I also quickly learned that the key to (company) success is to have a team of engineers across all disciplines within EE and to create an environment where nobody cares about these individual holes. The only important thing is to debate the issue as a team and to find the correct answer. Sometimes it pays to have quite a few people in the room across all disciplines eg HW/SW/DSP/RF/Mech/Test/Production.
It's a great way to do things because it helps fill in the holes for everyone in the room.
If you fast forward to 2014 (nearly 2015!) you can create the same environment over the internet but the main stumbling block would be if you tried to do it as a text based forum. Text isn't the best way to communicate and it usually causes friction and upset and so communication and goodwill can quickly break down.
Back in 1990 I was incredibly priviliged to work amongst those talented engineers that started the company and I know how powerful it can be to get a group of decent engineers in a room with a whiteboard and a few design tools. It's a great environment to learn and share knowledge.