I belong to the camp of people who believe the why you do something is much more important that how or how well you do what you do.
I have core values I live by and run my things by and I like working with people who have similar values as that takes a bunch of challenges away. For starters, people who work with you only because of their next pay check is such a terrible idea, they are merely a gun for hire, such people seldom ever contribute their own ideas to the mission. They want you to simply describe what you want so that they can bill you appropriately and move on, it is simply business. (By the way, thinking you can get them to change and care about the work might not work out as smoothly as you think.)
Having a clear range of core values that defines your company culture is a great idea. Whoever is joining our company knows exactly why and how we do the things we do. Having great talent but not willing to behave the way we do is a red flag.
Many people fired up by passion to see real change in the world around them start ventures that fizzle out because as each person stops by to mock them on the folly of what they are doing, they lose the fire they started with.
We should have a strong focus on culture-fit and sometimes it might mean firing great people who have different values. However, I am convinced that nothing can stop a team of determined people bound together for a (great cause) they all believe in.
