Good candidates are not universally good, they are good for you after hire.
One of the best business analysts I worked with (also a profession, mind you) was almost fired when working under an old, grumpy and clearly underskilled one.
I was hired once without interview into a unicorn, was loved by colleagues but hated the work, the business and the industry, then left rather quickly.
See? There are mismatches and unknown unknowns, not just bad or good developers.
yup, the worst performance i did on any job was due to the complete unavailability of a manager when i was a team of one. and then that manager would not even fire me. i had to quit to get out of there.
One of the best business analysts I worked with (also a profession, mind you) was almost fired when working under an old, grumpy and clearly underskilled one.
I was hired once without interview into a unicorn, was loved by colleagues but hated the work, the business and the industry, then left rather quickly.
See? There are mismatches and unknown unknowns, not just bad or good developers.