Vicious Recruitment Cycle

I guess this is part of human nature and a human flaw with regard to business performance.

The topic reminds me of Google’s recruitment process where they are aiming to create a “bozo-free zone”. Their theory is when hiring one ‘moron’ more will follow. The thinking is simple: in a dynamic (business) environment top people want to work with like-minded top performers because it is challenging and inspiring. The outcome is accelerated people and organisational development.

The problem starts when you let medium performers into the organisation because they feel naturally threatened by top performers. They will hire like-minded people as well and the downward cycle is being perpetuated even further when you have a medium performer with a lack of self-confidence. S/he will hire C-performers and so the cycle continues…

As soon as we now start promoting employees ‘we start promoting them into’ the Hierarchy of Incompetence and end up in what Carl Icahn calls the ‘Moronization of Management’.