Digital (R)evolution

Chapter 7Hire Captains, Not Kings or Queens

Executive Summary: In previous chapters, we focused mostly on processes and technologies. In this chapter, we look at people—specifically, we share stories about finding and hiring people who thrive under pressure, enjoy pushing the envelope, and aren't fearful of the future and its uncertainties.

It's common for executives to complain about the difficulties of hiring top talent for critical roles in the modern enterprise. I agree completely—hiring talented people is difficult. But it's not impossible. David Ogilvy, often referred to as the Father of Advertising, the founder of Ogilvy & Mather, stated in no uncertain terms, “If each of us hires people who are smaller than we are, we shall become a company of dwarfs. But if each of us hires people who are bigger than we are, we shall become a company of giants.”

When parsing the difference between “difficult” and “impossible,” I invoke the motto of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers: “The difficult we do immediately. The impossible takes a little longer.”

That said, I find it surprising when organizations erect unnecessary barriers that reduce the chances of hiring good people. For a long period of time, you couldn't get an interview at a major tech company unless you had attended a top-tier university and graduated with impeccable grades.

Some of the big tech firms have relaxed those high standards, but there's still a heavy dose of bias in the hiring process that eliminates many otherwise ...