Of course you want the best you can get. I’m arguing 10x is constantly influx for any number of reasons. So it’s unlikely you’ll get one. If you have a process for making engineers into the best then you don’t need to look for the unlikely 10x because you can make them into the 10x high performers you need.

Ive seen companies literally turn good engineers into underperforming engineers...stifling them with process, tech debt, politics, etc... Then they get angry some people can perform and others can’t under the circumstances and conditions the management created.

I’ve watched perfectly good engineers get fired or forced out for not being miracle workers only for people to later realize there was nothing wrong with the engineer in the first place.

You don’t know who is going to be the best until you work with them. I would advise people to pick people they will like even under the worst of conditions and train them to the way you want them to be.