Mary Carty

I have been thinking about people; specifically people talent, having the right people on the bus to drive your organisation forward.

Joel Spolskey talks a lot about A, B and C people in Smart and Get Things Done. Joel writes from the perspective of coding and engineering, but the same principle applies to every organisation.

A people are rare, like diamonds, worth their weight in gold, and not to be allowed leave the building. Ever. A people are categorised by their strong innovative streak, clear vision and ability to set out a clear path to get things done.

B people are competent; they do their jobs but don’t sweat the big stuff. They don’t push the boundaries and can become a B player if coached well from a C grade.

C people are just about competent, some days. They like the status quo. They hate change and don’t like A players as they show them up. Unfortunately, most companies, particularly larger organistions, are great hang outs for C people.

The question is how many players of each category do you have on your team? Would hiring an A player put your organisation at a crossroads or in jeopardy? Would you be able to handle it?

As Eric Paley remarks in The Curve of Talent

“Large companies have very few A players. A players don’t want to be at large companies because, more often than not, corporate bureaucracy and process not only fail to reward, but actually punish A players. By putting the objectives ahead of process and politics, A players step on bureaucratic toes and don’t retreat based on false territorial claims. Though there are exceptions, few large corporations create cultures that give A players room to win. It’s not fun trying to innovate at a large company when co-workers feel that you’re threatening the core inertia on which the business is based. They’ll say things like “that’s just not the way things work around here.”

Maybe it is time to change the status quo.

How do you identify an A player at interview? According to Paley “One way these candidates can be identified during an interview is when they actually teach the interviewer something about how the company can win.”

If you are interviewing in the New Year and want an A player on board, I highly recommend Joel’s Guerrilla Guide to interviewing.
The latest version of the post is here.

There is no time to loose.

Have a read of my post the art of people management for other thoughts on this really important subject.

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Image thanks to cardmom (CC)