For every twenty applicants to Harvard, one in five meets the basic qualifications to attend – the grades, the test scores, the determination, the extra-curricular folderol that indicate a reasonable likelihood of success.
But past that initial winnowing, the admissions staff does not have consistent success in picking the winners and losers. Admitted students drop out or fail, and students who are turned away go on to achieve success in equivalent venues – and in life.
The same thing happens with recruiters for professional sports. Nobody who gets into the NFL or the NBA lacks the skills to play the game at a high level, but once that basic requirement is met, recruiters have an inconsistent record when it comes to selecting the players who will take a team to the championships.
Think about that for a moment. For admissions staff and professional sports recruiters, selecting winners and losers is a full-time job, one that’s backed up by a lot more data than we usually have on potential members of our farm crews. And they still can’t consistently pick the winners and the losers.
My conclusion: When you’re hiring employees, it doesn’t pay to spend the time and the effort looking for winners. Expecting to outperform Harvard admissions staff and NFL is folly.
What if, instead, you focused on that initial winnowing to ensure that applicants meet the basic requirements to succeed as part of your farm team? Then, put the effort you would have put into additional winnowing into training and developing the staff you hire to provide them with the skills, information, and perspective they really need to succeed in your unique circumstances.
(HT Seth Godin)
But past that initial winnowing, the admissions staff does not have consistent success in picking the winners and losers. Admitted students drop out or fail, and students who are turned away go on to achieve success in equivalent venues – and in life.
The same thing happens with recruiters for professional sports. Nobody who gets into the NFL or the NBA lacks the skills to play the game at a high level, but once that basic requirement is met, recruiters have an inconsistent record when it comes to selecting the players who will take a team to the championships.
Think about that for a moment. For admissions staff and professional sports recruiters, selecting winners and losers is a full-time job, one that’s backed up by a lot more data than we usually have on potential members of our farm crews. And they still can’t consistently pick the winners and the losers.
My conclusion: When you’re hiring employees, it doesn’t pay to spend the time and the effort looking for winners. Expecting to outperform Harvard admissions staff and NFL is folly.
What if, instead, you focused on that initial winnowing to ensure that applicants meet the basic requirements to succeed as part of your farm team? Then, put the effort you would have put into additional winnowing into training and developing the staff you hire to provide them with the skills, information, and perspective they really need to succeed in your unique circumstances.
(HT Seth Godin)
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