[qsort]

I mean, is it true even then?

I know it doesn't work like that, but as a first approximation we can imagine that people working on the Manhattan project would be able to write some javascript or whatever given the chance, while the opposite isn't true. So you would still want to hire the best people you can get your hands on: maybe you underestimated the difficulty of the current project, or the next one will be harder. Anything else is just Pareto-inefficient.

[groby_b]

"You can get your hands on" is the imperative part.

All the article is trying to say (as far as I can tell) is "do not wait for the perfect hire if you have a perfectly good hire".

The "complex contagion" and "network effects" are what triggered the insight for them, but are not really necessary to understanding the principle.