[mieseratte]

Absolutely agree. Some people are just beyond saving. Sometimes this a matter of skill, and sometimes a matter of will but the result is the same. If you're hiring pipe-hitters and grafting them onto a JV squad the results will often not be what you'd hoped for, unless you have a particularly high-tolerance for projects being over (time-)budget.

Having personally burned myself down in such an environment, a good interview question to ask is if everyone has gone through the same hiring process and if not ask what the previous process was and why things have changed.