Years ago I interviewed a young man and was so impressed by his obvious charisma that I hired him, only to discover that his skills and those required by the job didn't match. Bad hire. I was paying attention to appearances and hoped that someone so gifted would be able to transfer those skills to the position, in fact he assured me they would. They did not.
I completely ignored my gut which would have at least slowed the process and allowed me to ask better questions. This isn't the only time I've made decisions based more on "hope so" and "want it to be so" than on careful consideration. Most of the time these decisions haven't worked out so well. My problem is that I tend to be overly optimistic. Couple that with the natural inclination of people to fool themselves and tell you they can do something they really can't or don't want to do, and you have a recipe for disaster.
Most decisions, at least significant ones, are better with a night's sleep and a willingness to ask precise questions related to the Tasks Which Define Success, not to mention getting the input of a colleague.
"Appearances can be deceiving." "You can't judge a book by its cover." These sayings exist because they are true. When it comes to hiring, people deserve to find the right niche where they can be happy and where they can bring to bear their unique gifts and skills to add meaning and be relevant.
I concur with you Rick and feel like we've lived similar lives in the school of hard knocks. My GUT feeling is not be be ignored, I have learned to slow down, ask more questions and try to determine why my GUT says what it does. It has rarely let me down!
ReplyDeleteI think that is the key, slow down and ask more questions. Why is it that I feel so much pressure sometimes to rush ahead? I feel as if when I slow down I'm being judged as not being very smart or competent, only to prove it true when my rushing leads to bad outcomes. I've got to remember to slow down and ask more questions. Thanks for posting, Pat. Hope you are doing well.
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