[rabbyte]

> "Skill in software engineering, like skill in any subject, is not cultivated by limiting yourself to a narrow set of knowledge and challenges."

Except you've done exactly this by selecting tree structures, something you find intuitive, and using it as a measurement for everything else. If you hire like this you will be successful in surrounding yourself with others who think just like you. Maybe that's a strength for the product you're building but it's a strength achieved by limiting yourself to a narrow set of knowledge.