Whom will you choose and why?

Personally, I feel "Culture" fit > " "Skill fit". Having said that, I don't think this necessarily applies to all types of organizations. I'm specifically talking about startups (especially the ones which are remote, and distributed). A startup lives for the only reason that it wants to solve a problem that a good number of people have, and it takes the most optimal route (time, money, and effort) to achieve that vision. (i) To solve a problem of that sort, it's going to be a team effort, and not just an individual effort. (ii) For teams which are remote, and distributed, there's nothing more important than the ability to communicate, and collaborate with other team members. Unlike skill set, culture is most of the times untrainable, and a good culture fit embodies the above qualities, and values - great communication, and collaboration. This is something which we focus on at Habbit (https://habbit.co.in/), not just learning, but learning with each other, and from each other. Culture is the invisible founder of an organization, and more often than not, I'd choose a teammate with satisfactory performance and great energy.

Personally, I prefer someone with whom I can discuss any topic without conflict. In the day to day communication is important and in addition to that, that it is fluid. It is useless to have the most effective teammate in the known universe if communication with that person is infinite pain. Look for co-workers, not rock stars, or even worse ... ninjas