Some people believe the best way to determine a person’s personality is to administer one of the many personality assessments that include Myers-Briggs, DISC, Strengthsfinder, Predictive Index, or MPO.
I propose that a vigilant observer can determine many aspects of a person’s personality by simply asking a few questions or keeping their eyes open. Want some examples? Here ya go:
- Optimizers vs Satisfazers – Does a person quickly find what they want in a long, complicated restaurant menu, or do they deliberate for 20 minutes or agonize over a decision?The quick orderer is a satisfizer, the agonizer is an optimizer. A satisfier, on the other hand, is someone who is content with finding a good enough option, even if it is not the best possible option. They are willing to trade off some potential value in order to save time and effort. In decision-making, an optimizer is someone who seeks to maximize their expected utility or value. They are willing to put in a lot of effort to find the best possible option, even if it means taking a lot of time and making a lot of calculations.
- Counters – There are three types of people, those who:
- can count
- can’t count
- Tomb Knowlege – Three kinds of people: those who
- “think” they know who’s buried in the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier
- don’t know who’s buried in Grant’s Tomb
- want to know why President Grant is buried in New York City
- Clothes Dryer Filters – There are three types of people, those who:
- replace the dryer filter before each laundry load
- replace the dryer filter after each laundry load
- say, “Dryer filer?”
- Political Astuteness – Who has more integrity and a higher IQ
- AOC
- MTG
Now, surely, I jest here. But the main and most serious point is there are four criteria for hiring people, and I’ll list them from least important to most important.
- Experience – The only reason to hire someone based on their past experience is solely because you need them to be productive the day you bring them on board.
- Cognitive Ability – A brilliant, high IQ, critical thinker can figure stuff out, adapt, and things change and should become productive quickly. Sure, if they are brilliant and have experience, then the duofecta of trifectas. Over the long term, Cognitive savants trump experienced veterans; if you can find a person with both attributes, go for it! Good for you!
- Personality Traits – A smart person, even a smart person who is big picture and not detailed, can nail an accounting test. But a twenty-minute test isn’t like trudging through a week of slogging through the books. Some people are wired to be accountants, and others are wired to be creatives. Make sure you understand the trait requirements of the position and hire for the traits.
- Cultural Fit – Cultural fit is the greatest predictor of success and longevity in a job. That creates a problem. Do you have a culture? Have you defined it, or does it define you? Now, if you’re one of your cultural traits is “we are problem solvers,” you don’t want to say to a candidate, we are looking for problem solvers. Are you a problem solver? Because I don’t even need to meet the candidate, and I can tell you that the answer will be yes. You want to ask situational problems like, “Tell me about a time you hit a roadblock in your job and how you overcame it?”
Want to discuss how to hire, right? Want to talk about interviewing strategies. These are the kinds of conversations I have with my clients every day. Well, usually not on Saturdays or Sundays, but most days. I’m a business coach, and if you’d like to know what it’s like to work with a coach, try a no-obligation, one-hour coaching session by pressing that green button down there.
- Intentional Leadership – a guide to developing a leadership canvas to build and motivate high-performance teams.
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