I think the idea of only hiring the best is misguided. I’ve hired dozens of people, and I’ve yet to hire a “bad” one. So, either I’m really good at picking the good ones, or there is a low bad candidates per non-bad candidate ratio.

Now, not every one became awesome. But, there are places for even the non-best developers to be productive. Good management is putting best employees on critical systems and others in supporting roles.