Your Best Hire: It May Surprise You

http://www.businessweek.com/managing/content/jul2008/ca20080724_402370.htm?campaign_id=rss_topStories

by nreece • 18 years ago

69 25 18 years ago

angstrom• 18 years ago

A narcissist always enjoys a good mirror.

jonmc12• 18 years ago

Good observation.. those differences probably starts with your co-founder and trickles down through subsequent hires. Reminded me of the value of tools like DISC, myers-briggs, the book 'Now, Discovery your Strengths', and the '5 dysfunctions of a Team'. Anyone else know of any useful tools or proverbs along this line?

swombat3• 18 years ago

DISC is awesome. Is there a link to it somewhere? I've never managed to find it online for some reason...

allenbrunson3• 18 years ago

Long ago, a boss told me: "Hire into your weakness." That's a tough pill for managers to swallow. If we hire people who are stronger than we are in certain areas, we run the risk of looking incompetent. We may look foolish, or be in a position to have to ask for advice more often than we like. If we hire people who are better than we are in some realms, they may not respect us.

good lord. do people really think like that? if so, i think they've got much bigger problems than merely hiring people like themselves.

daniel-cussen• 18 years ago

Yes, I imagine a lot of people do think like this. Hell, I'd say that, for most people, losing authority is seen as worse than simply failing without losing face.

marijn• 18 years ago

The process doesn't have to be conscious. People who are competent in areas one doesn't understand can come across as vaguely intimidating, while being weak in areas where one is stong might be interpreted as stupidity. As such, unless you are extremely honest with yourself you run the risk of underestimating those that differ from you, and overestimating your mirror image.

allenbrunson3• 18 years ago

what surprises me is to see an article like this on hacker news, and to see it getting serious upvotes.

if you ask me, the author of that article is not part of the solution, she's part of the problem. she's describing a framework where decisions are made based on ego and pride. exactly the sort of environment that the average hacker news reader wants to avoid.

then she goes on to describe how you might fix one small part of this -- by deigning to hire someone not exactly like yourself. while leaving the rest of the ego-based framework intact, no doubt.

i'm guessing the real problem she's describing is deep insecurity. i'd prefer to see her tackle that one, rather than some tiny insignificant facet of it, as she's chosen to do here.

ibsulon• 18 years ago

It's often a subconscious decision.

adamc• 18 years ago

Not as good as the Yegge essay "Done, and Gets Things Smart", except that it's shorter.

unalone2• 18 years ago

Brevity is the soul of gettingpeopleonlinetoactuallyreadwhatyou'vewritten. Shakespeare said that.

weiser• 18 years ago

An honest self-assessment is essential for hiring into your weakness. Unfortunately, most people are unable or unwilling to do that.

unalone2• 18 years ago

Not to sound flippant, but wasn't this the idea behind the Beatles? Lennon and McCartney's balancing each other is what made the Beatles so great.

nazgulnarsil• 18 years ago

it's important to remember this not just in a business setting but in a social one as well.

Your Best Hire: It May Surprise You

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