It really depends. For example, you could have an average developer who has a huge amount of domain knowledge. Their coding skills may be sub-par but that doesn

It really depends. For example, you could have an average developer who has a huge amount of domain knowledge. Their coding skills may be sub-par but that doesn't mean they are not valuable. They may also have strengths in UI, sysadmin, etc. On the other hand a developer could be average due to lack of experience, which is something that can be remedied by time and training - code reviews can help, as well as a reading list etc. We all have to start somewhere. Give those that show promise - but lack experience - some guidance. It also depends a lot on where you are in the development cycle. Are you mainly doing maintenance work, bug fixes, minor feature additions ? An average team should do fine. Where you don't want mediocre developers is in the early stages of a big project - bad design decisions and poor programming practices can make later development a nightmare. I'm working on such a project right now and it's highly demoralizing - every day I find a new WTF and I just don't have the time to refactor everything - my recommendation at this point is to scrap the lot and start over, but that's not likely to happen. That's the result of mediocre developers in over their heads without a clue, and it can have a huge negative impact on your company's productivity and bottom line.