[qes]

It sounds a bit elitist but I think there's truth to what you're saying.

I've seen it clearly in both directions from me - code I've written that I could easily pick out 10 peers I've worked with and be certain that they would not be able to solve the problem within the constraints, period - and I've also seen work others have done and be certain that I could not have independently done similar, certainly not within any span of time that's worth considering.

I've also seen companies crumble and fail from only having "average" developers where no one could tackle the difficult problems that inevitably come up.