Sometimes I'll present a management idea in a way that sounds a little crazy when you first hear it but makes a lot of sense after it's explained. This grabs people’s attention and makes the idea more memorable.
For example, here's a rule I tell my managers to follow in the hiring process: "Never hire the best applicant."
Of course that sounds pretty counter-intuitive because hiring the best applicant seems like a good thing to do. However, if go into the hiring process thinking that your goal is to hire the best applicant, then it is easy to fall into the trap of assuming your goal is to hire the best applicant who applied for the position.
This is a trap because you lose control of your hiring standard. You let the marketplace set your hiring standard for you, and that standard is "the least unqualified person who happens to apply." This happens all the time. A company opens up a position, ten candidates apply, and the best candidate gets the job. But what if the best of the bunch isn’t really the right person for the job?
To achieve success through selectivity you need to consciously stay focused on hiring the right person rather than the best applicant. If none of the candidates is truly the right person for the job, even if one of them comes very close, don’t hire any of them. Keep looking.
Like all other aspects of the selectivity process, this takes discipline. Sometimes it will seem very urgent to hire someone as soon as possible. Never give in to that pressure. The short-term pain of taking the time to find the right person is always better than the long-term pain of hiring the wrong person in a hurry. Just keep telling yourself, "It’s never too late to hire the right person."
You need to continually remind your managers, and yourself, of this because it’s so easy to forget. Every once in a while I fall into the trap myself and hire the best candidate who applied. And I always end up regretting it.
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