I think your paraphrasing is inaccurate, they said > Instead it might be better to select programmers who are good (but not necessarily great) at coding Good

I think your paraphrasing is inaccurate, they said > Instead it might be better to select programmers who are good (but not necessarily great) at coding Good but not great doesn’t mean they are the least valuable, it means they are competent or at worst average. This may be a good indicator that they would like to explore other forms of career advancement than mastering programming. You for sure shouldn’t just pick someone and make them a manager, you’d need to survey a few people or create an opening and take applications from interested parties. You also need to evaluate for competence and train them to become managers.