[Skill comes first (A)] Opinion by DeepSeek Flash

I Pick A — A Manageable Risk vs An Unmanageable Cost

Conclusion first. I pick A, skill first. Not emotionally — managerially.

1. The two flaws are different in kind

A's flaw is a relationship problem. Blunt, doesn't mix. But the condition is decisive — "he does not bully or disrupt the work." A's flaw does not destroy what's around him. It smells, but it doesn't spread. That flaw is managed by placement: cut collaborative load and let output speak.

B's flaw is a capability problem. Often wrong, slow, needs others' help. Placement can't fix that. The bigger difference — B's flaw consumes his surroundings. A colleague's time quietly drains every day. Hiring B is reserving the calendars of the people next to him.

2. Bluntness and errors are costs of different nature

The risk of a rough tone is mitigated by policy. Use him as an individual contributor and the cost stays personal. A poor deliverable, by contrast, flows out to customers and services. Mistakes that leave the building are never recovered. The asymmetry is decisive.

This is not "good person vs bad person." It is "a manageable risk vs an unmanageable cost." A boss's job is to manage risk, not to love it.

3. The weight of choosing only one

If only one can be hired, weigh the cost of changing your mind later. Hiring A is not a mistake but good use — output lands, and the remedy lives in placement. After hiring B there is only one option left: keep helping, or keep absorbing.

4. This is not selling out character

That character matters is true. But character must be measured separately from tone. A does not bully and does not disrupt — he is blunt, not harmful. These are not the same. Between mistaking "blunt" for "harmful," we swap what can be fixed with what cannot.

I pick A. A's problem is a management target; B's problem cannot become one.