There are written rules in this organization and unwritten rules in organization…kind of an “oral law” as it were. For instance, nowhere is it written that JWs should not have beards.
When the elders evaluate the pool of males for appointment, they might split hairs. Do they go out at least one Sunday a month? How many return visits do they report? Some elder bodies can be quite fickle. It is one of the most judgmental organizations on earth, after all.
I’ve known of people who do everything “right”, even exceed the written rules, and the elders pass on them because they don’t make enough return visits or because their enrollment in “higher education” was an “inconvenience” to them.