In my experience, great accomplishment emerges from both a significant quantity of effort and vision, and a critical injection of serendipity where the universe conspires to feed the craftsman critical nudges that elevate the work beyond the original intent.
I also find that those that have accomplished "greatness" without having drowned in their own kool-aid will speak candidly about the ambiguities encountered, the stuff that "worked better than it had any right to", and the aspects where satisfaction continues to elude them.
Assuming that Michalangelo was such a person, while I doubt there would be much left he found unsatisfactory in his work on the ceiling (or he wouldn't have allowed himself to be finished), I would expect a wealth of stories of his tribulations, and a number of unexpected avenues that provided sanity restoring inspiration for an outcome that _was_ satisfactory.
Nobody disagrees that a host of factors are at play with any major breakthroughs
However, much like Engels stated when discussing his relationship with Marx, Marx in his view was a genius that didn’t need Engels and could have done it all himself. So there really are individuals that we can point to that did the work and have demonstrated their individual inputs were far and beyond the deciding factor in success or not.
If anything the elucidation, of the “trials and tribulations” emphasize the difficulty and exceptional talent required to accomplish it
I also find that those that have accomplished "greatness" without having drowned in their own kool-aid will speak candidly about the ambiguities encountered, the stuff that "worked better than it had any right to", and the aspects where satisfaction continues to elude them.
Assuming that Michalangelo was such a person, while I doubt there would be much left he found unsatisfactory in his work on the ceiling (or he wouldn't have allowed himself to be finished), I would expect a wealth of stories of his tribulations, and a number of unexpected avenues that provided sanity restoring inspiration for an outcome that _was_ satisfactory.