There's a saying, “you don't ask a fish about water.” Fish tend to lack perspective when it comes to water issues, and they have a lot of vested self interest at stake. If you were born in water and depend on it, you might just not see everything. Environment is a huge force in our thinking. BP and US Gov't thought it was a great idea!
This BP oil spill in the gulf of Mexico is an amazing fiasco. You'd have to be in the oil business to believe that hanging one mile of vertical pipe in a hurricane tossed ocean was a permanent arrangement. The rest of us think it's not that smart.
How do we become comfortable with stupid ideas? Some suggestions; stay indoors, talk only to people who think like you, and follow the breadcrumbs of self interest. Using this formula almost anything can make sense.
Business offers up the same trap. The push for profit is relentless and we're surrounded by our own industry, (we don't get out much). Eventually we all have a bit of BPs logic in us.
Hiring is one of those logic traps. Most of want to believe that we can hire a star and everything will turn out well. Our industry, our business, makes us believe that. In 2004, a Harvard Business feature showed us the flaw in this idea.
46% of stars did poorly for more than one year after leaving one company for another.
Stars performance plummeted on average, 20% with their new company.
38% stayed less than 36 months with their new employer.
29% quit before two years were up.
Stars find new jobs by following a “highest bidder” trail.
With each subsequent job, the star's stayed shorter durations.
70% of star performance is caused by the company. Only 30% can be traced to the person.
Some stars going to similar companies slipped for 2 yrs, but recovered in yr 3.
Stars rely heavily on corporate culture, resources, their network and knowledge of their previous employer for their success. When we change those things, we also change the star's chance of success.
When company's hire a star, the group's performance declines.
What to do? Build a strong system and staff it with average people. Your system has to be stronger than the people within it. Excellence has to come from the system. If you're fortunate, and hire great people, that is the greatest combination overall. Forget about hiring stars. Focus on hiring good human beings.
See you for breakfast!
Wolfgang
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