zlacker

>>kisna7+(OP)
Old but good post ("where everybody is above average"): http://googleresearch.blogspot.com/2006/03/hiring-lake-wobeg...

>>seiji+Lc
Interesting post, I hadn't seen that before. Here is another factor to worry about: If you hire too many mediocre programmers, the good ones will leave. (Trust me, they can get jobs easily.) You'll be stuck with the mediocre ones.

http://brucefwebster.com/2008/04/11/the-wetware-crisis-the-d...

I think the NetFlix strategy is partly a response to this.

People pretend there is a 10x difference between programmers. I assure you that is way too low. The difference is actually Infinite, because contributions can be negative (I've seen a bad programmer set back a project by 6 months). Even worse, a programmer can create a toxic atmosphere, causing good programmers to leave.

I like the NetFlix strategy. Some people are just a hell of a lot more productive than other people. (Example: http://bellard.org/ )