I think I can totally make that impression now. I totally couldn't when I was younger - and when I would have provided you much more value for the money (meaning, I'd work my ass off for peanuts.) I would have failed on numerous grounds:
* desire to ship: more like "I don't care who uses my work, I just want a job"
* desire to grow: more like "I don't know what people grow into, I just want a job"
* rationality: I dunno, I might have tried to fake understanding something when I didn't out of fear
* poker face: I dunno, probably I'd have "very low levels of openness" because fuck, I really really need a job and I'm super nervous
In general, usually the guy who appears nice, sensible and calm is indeed a great hire, but they cost a fortune because they're actually quite rare. A very simple way to hire pretty great people cheaply is opening the doors for the hordes of somewhat-mentally-imbalanced people.
Those are good points. You're right I'm describing a fairly rare kind of hire, and a solid process must take into consideration the reality that not everyone is that strong or interviews that well, yet may have other highly valuable traits.
Perhaps an appropriate measure for interviewing is to do some psychological profiling to spot where a candidate is imbalanced, and then incorporate into the remainder of questioning. As an interviewer, you're always going to be biasing towards your own strengths and downplaying weaknesses, and although there are personalities that pose more or less danger to others, there isn't a perfect personality overall.
* desire to ship: more like "I don't care who uses my work, I just want a job"
* desire to grow: more like "I don't know what people grow into, I just want a job"
* rationality: I dunno, I might have tried to fake understanding something when I didn't out of fear
* poker face: I dunno, probably I'd have "very low levels of openness" because fuck, I really really need a job and I'm super nervous
In general, usually the guy who appears nice, sensible and calm is indeed a great hire, but they cost a fortune because they're actually quite rare. A very simple way to hire pretty great people cheaply is opening the doors for the hordes of somewhat-mentally-imbalanced people.