Tag Archives: hiring

January 11, 2013 · 9:48 am

Seeds

For our Foodie Friday Fun today, let’s spend a moment on seeds.

Sunflower seeds

Sunflower seeds (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I realize that seeds probably aren’t the first thing on your radar screen when you’re contemplating snack foods.  Too bad.  Seeds are nutrient-dense and are filled with phytosterols, these things in plants that are as effective as many of the prescription drugs a lot of folks are taking to lower cholesterol.   I’m a fan – pumpkin seeds are the best thing in my book about carving those gourds around Halloween, and no baseball player has gone through their career without chomping in a bunch of sunflower seeds at some point.  I’m not sure many of them think about how they’re full of antioxidants to protect against UV damage from playing ball in the sun, however.  I also don’t think many of us consider hummus as ground sesame seeds (well, the tahini used to make hummus is exactly that) and we tend to throw seeds from fruits such as papaya away when in actuality they’re really good for us.

Here’s the thing about eating seeds – they can, in some cases, be a lot of work.  After all, pumpkin seeds (if you’re making them yourself) need to be extracted, cleaned off, roasted and seasoned.  Sunflower seeds have to be extracted from their hard, inedible shell.  Maybe that extra bit of business to get them ready is why I find them so satisfying to eat.

The business point is pretty straightforward.  As managers we tend to focus on the fully developed plants when in fact the seeds might be better for us.  I focus a lot on potential when I’m hiring or promoting, and that’s not just on junior people.  I’m looking to see if there’s a seed somewhere that might even be better than the plant I’m seeing.  It’s not jut solving the immediate need (hunger) but looking to the future as well (health).

What seeds are you eating?

Enhanced by Zemanta

Leave a comment

Filed under food, Helpful Hints

Tagged as , , , , ,

August 23, 2012 · 8:49 am

The Smartest One In The Room

We all like to believe that we’re smart.  I always used to ask that as an interview question of potential employees – “are you smart?”  No one ever said they weren’t and I certainly wouldn’t have expected them to.  Me?  I sometimes feel as if I’m not the smartest guy in the room even when I’m alone.

I bring this up today because I came across a study that I found interesting and thought you might as well.  It’s about how we evaluate one another as well as how we represent ourselves (hence the above interview question).  It’s in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology which I don’t make a habit of reading but the study popped up in my news feed.  Here is the abstract:

When people seek to impress others, they often do so by highlighting individual achievements. Despite the intuitive appeal of this strategy, we demonstrate that people often prefer potential rather than achievement when evaluating others. Indeed, compared with references to achievement (e.g., “this person has won an award for his work”), references to potential (e.g., “this person could win an award for his work”) appear to stimulate greater interest and processing, which can translate into more favorable reactions. This tendency creates a phenomenon whereby the potential to be good at something can be preferred over actually being good at that very same thing.

In other words, we much prefer hearing job candidates talk about how they are empty vessels capable of greatness than about how many deals they’ve closed.  I think that’s why I used to ask the “smart” question – it gets to a candidate’s potential.  The thing is that the raw intelligence – the potential – has to be married to a respect for the intelligence of those around you.  No matter how smart you may be, you need to seek out people smarter than you are to keep yourself growing.  If you can’t find an individual, the odds are that the collective wisdom of co-workers and peers can serve the same purpose.

You think that’s smart?

Enhanced by Zemanta

Leave a comment

Filed under Helpful Hints

Tagged as , , ,

August 10, 2012 · 8:37 am

Non Troppo

It’s hard to know what topic to choose for Foodie Friday in the middle of Summer.

English: Insalata caprese, made from mozzarell...

Insalata caprese, made from mozzarella, tomatoes, olive oil and basil.(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

After all, there is no other time of the year when a cook has so many great ingredients from which to choose. Tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, zucchini and (it seems) just about everything else are near or at their peak season now. It becomes hard to choose a topic just as it is to choose which to use for dinner.
Of course, the ingredients themselves are a theme we’ve hit before. I’ve written about being choosy and not settling for an inferior product, either in the kitchen or in the office.  Today I want to write about the corollary to great ingredients: not getting in their way.

Obviously you can’t put basil fresh from the garden next to a perfect tomato and buffalo mozzarella and expect a brilliant caprese salad to put itself together.  You still need to do some work and add a bit (and only a bit) of salt, acid, and great olive oil.  But, as the italian phrase goes, non troppo – not too much.  Overdressing or over seasoning the great basics just gets in the way of their flavors.  You want to bring those flavors out, not hide them.  Slices of zucchini and other summer vegetables perfectly sliced and roasted can be a fantastic meal.  Bake them in layers and cover them in cheese and you might get a tasteless, soggy mess of a gratin.

It’s the same with your team.  Find the best people, educate them on your goals, help fill in their skill set where necessary, and then get out of the way.  You want to manage them but non troppo – not too much.  How many of us have worked for a micro-manager who wants things done his or her way even if they’re wrong?  How often are you sitting around having drinks after work with your peers and the discussion uncovers widespread unhappiness with how the team is being used?  The better that team is the more likely that they have skill sets in certain areas that are superior to those of their supervisor in those areas.  As managers, we want those people on our team.  They’re not threats – they’re our salvation.

I love cooking in Summer since there’s less I have to do.  It’s more about the shopping than it is the cooking.  Great managing is that way – it’s almost more about the hiring than it is the managing.  You need to manage, but non troppo.  You with me?

Enhanced by Zemanta

Leave a comment

Filed under food, Helpful Hints

Tagged as , , , ,