EMPOWERED

CHAPTER 26Competence and Character

When I talk to executives and managers that don't trust the people on their product teams, I find that they often have very antiquated, and I believe harmful, views on what types of people to recruit and hire.

So I ask these leaders to consider a very different approach to staffing.

First, when I say that strong product teams are composed of “ordinary people,” I'm not suggesting that you can hire anyone off the street and turn them into members of extraordinary teams. They do need to have the necessary skills to succeed.

However, I am suggesting that rather than obsessing over the university the person attended, or the ambiguous concept of “cultural‐fit,” or whether the person is a so‐called 10X performer, or thinking you need to hire people with a deep knowledge of your domain, focus instead on what I'm about to describe.

To be clear, there is most definitely such a thing as a 10X employee. These are people who have demonstrated their ability to contribute on the order of 10X more than their peers.

However, it's also no secret that having a 10X employee does not necessarily translate into having 10X results. That's because results in product companies come from product teams, and in fact if that 10X employee brings along toxic behaviors, they will likely cause far more damage to your organization than good.

Let's discuss the characteristics you should consider when recruiting and assembling strong, cross‐functional, empowered product teams. ...