Wednesday, June 24, 2015

How to Know if Someone is the Right Person for your Job - a thought leadership blog series from John Wentworth #3 DATA VS. INTUITION

#3 Data vs. Intuition

First, the role of intuition: intuition is wrong a lot of the time.

Then, the role of data: data can be wrong, too, if you measure what is misleading or irrelevant.

How then do you decide?  

Answer: You insist on both pointing to the same decision.  Intuition and data need to agree, validating each other.

You like the candidate? NO.  The candidate has what you want? YES. 

If you feel weird about someone but the data say they are great, don’t do a thing until you can figure out how to reconcile the two.  

You like the candidate? YES.  The candidate has what you want? NO

If the data says they do not have what you need but you love them, do nothing until you understand why you love them so much or why the data say they don’t have enough skills.  

A friend of mine used to hire alcoholics.  They had bad job histories, but he loved them.  He figured out that he loved them because they were codependent and who’s nicer to you than a codependent who needs a job and who doesn’t like nice?  Data and intuition disagreed.  He hired them anyway.  He let them all go.

You like the candidate? NO.  The candidate has what you want? NO

If the data says they do not have what you need and your intuition agrees, then pass on them.  You have legal justification and you won’t feel bad about the decision later.

You like the candidate? YES.  The candidate has what you want? YES. 

If you think candidates are great and the data say they have all that you need, hire them, quickly, before they get away!


Here is a quality assurance tool Wentworth developed to make sure that you are listening to all the information.  It compares the candidate’s job related scores (can they do the job?) to their fit (do you like them?) scores.

If the yellow dot, the candidate, is in the top left corner, you love the person, but they don’t have the skills.  

If the dot is in the lower left, the candidate has neither skills nor personal magnetism.

If the dot is in the lower right, the candidate has great skills but is a misfit for your organization.

If the dot is in the upper right, the candidate has both the needed skills and the ability to fit with you and the organization.

We urge our clients to stick to people in the upper right corner.

If you are interested in how Wentworth can help you select employees who will be productive and stable, or teach your employees how to do it, please call me at 310 732 2301.

Thanks so much.

John

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