I disagree with you on brilliance. Creativity and brilliance are very important traits that bring change, growth and progress. Every person is a package of attributes, and attributes are tools. Your job as a recruiter is to help recognize how those tools will be the most effectively applied. Brilliance is a tool. Consistency is an attitudinal choice.

A person like those you just described, that makes up rules as they go, may be the perfect person for a job shop or a career that involves a variety of projects. They may also thrive as an entrepreneur. Their brilliance will shine, and they may have the problem solving ability to think on their feet in new territory where there are no established procedures.

We need both kinds of workers, and neither kind can be effective in the wrong environment. When someone doesn’t work out in a job, it isn’t just the individuals failure. Were they placed in the wrong position? Did they receive the right kind of supervision and mentoring? Is there an attitude or cultural imbalance in the organization (usually exhibited in brutal tactics, gossip, throwing others under the bus, and low morale.

Every time we encounter someone in self-defeating behavior, we also face choices. We can be a part of the problem. We can get angry. We can feel superior in our approach to work. I prefer to choose being part of the solution. We can take the opportunity to help that person grow and see how the behavior is non-productive or destructive.

If you are merely looking to fill positions, then, the person who is average and consistent may prove to be the best long-term choice. If you are looking to build a company that is exceptional, you set systems in place to develop and groom special talent, and they usually start at the bottom, in entry level positions. In that case, you look for brilliance, a can do attitude, and the ability to listen and learn, but the confidence to question procedures and offer alternatives that may be better – with the intelligence to understand who makes the decisions. It is very important that recruiters understand exactly what attributes are needed in each job, because the winning characteristics of good lawyers and accountants are not exactly the same as the attributes of a good salesman, or a teacher, or a supervisor.