DDI’s Talent Management Intelligence

Achievement - What’s Luck Got To Do With It? (Apologies to Tina Turner…)

By Mike Hoban

Almost everyone would agree that talent is important for individual and organizational achievement. I say “almost” because a few members of the Flat Earth Society might argue the point. And there are other factors besides talent that contribute to human achievement such as drive or determination, which has recently been popularized as “grit.” 

There’s another factor that most reasonable people regularly identify as an enabler to talent but which receives scant attention in the academic literature: Luck. Right place-right time. You know, like the Beatles (audible gasp).

Granted, implying the Beatles were “lucky” makes for fighting words for many Fab Four fans, especially among Boomers, of which I am one, as well as a Beatles fan. So with credentials presented, let me explain about the Beatles and “luck” and the connection to talent, because there are parallels in the business world.

The Beatles had a great deal of talent, both individually and as a group. But were they the MOST talented individual musicians in England at the time? No. But in the perfect storm of a changing musical genre and the 60s cultural zeitgeist, they were able to leverage their considerable talents to bring the British sound to the world. Meanwhile, it’s almost certain that there were other bands in England composed of more talented musicians who continued to toil in obscurity.

So, something else besides talent helped propel the Beatles to the top of the music world. Most successful people would admit they caught some breaks and the Beatles were no exception - serendipity played a part. And they were definitely in the right place at the right time and also had the aforementioned “grit.” But talent was still the foundation.

So what’s the lesson in this for individuals and organizations? For individuals, other factors besides talent can be important for achievement. The “luck” of being placed on a visible, high-impact project team or turnaround situation, for instance, can boost a career, but like the Beatles example, one doesn’t usually get placed into that type of situation simply because of random chance. It’s more likely that talent was the ticket into that assignment. It’s what gets you invited to the table in the first place.

For organizations, it’s not just identifying potential talent, but to put them into situations where, like the Beatles’ early club performances in Liverpool and Hamburg, they can demonstrate “grit;” they can hone and apply that talent and create for themselves the opportunities for “luck” to occur. As a result, being in the “right place at the right time” becomes more of a logical consequence than an incidental occurrence. 

What role do you think “luck” plays in success and achievement?

Mike Hoban is a senior consultant for Development Dimensions International (DDI).

Vision? Whose Vision?

By Matt Paese, Ph.D.

I’ll never forget a conference years ago where I met nice guy whose business card is still somewhere in my desk. Under his name reads the coveted title, “Visionary”. A title like this clearly screams for inquiry, so I couldn’t help asking, but in our short exchange, I never quite figured out how he got the title or what his job was. Now years later, I find myself wondering again.

A short while ago I hung up the phone with a senior executive who runs the web operation for a global retailer. We were discussing a candidate for a major role on his executive team, and a question came up…about vision.

She’s a shoe-in for the job, but her soon-to-be boss asked, “Can she sell the vision?” This organization’s web strategy is new, unique, and will require big change. Not everyone will understand it, and some will almost certainly resist it. 

The well-striped candidate in question is even-tempered, focused and driven, pragmatic, and at times a bit too much so on all these fronts. No doubt she can drive the strategy, but what if she can’t get anyone to believe in the vision? I’m left with a different question:

Where should vision come from, and why should we have to “sell” it?

Doesn’t the phrase “sell the vision” suggest that we’ve already missed the opportunity to involve others in its construction? I know there are some who are clearly better at seeing future possibilities than others, and there are some (often not the same people) who are better at communicating what that brighter future might look like. But is it true that great vision can only be generated from the unique minds of a few “visionaries”? 

I don’t think so. 

While nuggets of possibility are often born from the minds of individuals, it’s only when these nuggets are tumbled by the imaginations of an engaged team that the full measure of a vision is truly fashioned. There is then no need to sell a vision that is already owned by its buyers.

Recently a DDI survey revealed that more than half of US workers feel their careers are stagnant, largely because they’re not involved in challenging assignments.

Since we’re all rethinking the future, and since so many of our associates are feeling stagnant, maybe we should rethink the notion of “the visionary leader”, and begin considering “the visionary organization”. 

Matt Paese is the Vice President of Executive Solutions for  Development Dimensions International (DDI).

Seaworthy Performance Management

By Barry Stern, Ph.D.

My personal psychological stimulus package arrived the other day. An email from a good friend and talented ex-colleague contained the phrase “missing our quarterly bonus discussions.” These sobering times had caused me to repress the lunacy of another era and at first I didn’t get it. To what bonus discussions was she referring?

Her subsequent phone call cleared it up. She remembered a time we were part of a company that had artfully created a performance management and bonus system utterly independent of our behavior. Furthermore, while the company stock plummeted, we received what seemed to us significant quarterly bonuses. We weren’t “gaming” the system; the system was “self-gaming”.

Contrary to what you might think, while we enjoyed the bonus and felt the dollars well deserved, having our behavior “de-linked” from our rewards felt absurdly hollow. Much nervous laughter accompanied each discussion as we tried to make sense of the circumstance. Furthermore, the little “development” my direct supervisor attempted to provide was merely extraneous noise. He didn’t get me, the situation, or the true development opportunities our dire company situation presented. And so, I and those closest to me, became rudderless, disengaged ships at sea. When the opportunity arose, many of us jumped ship. Some, with no apparent performance based rhyme or reason, were eventually asked to walk the plank.

Today’s performance management connectivity challenge is decidedly different. As companies enter Q4, hordes of talented folks are burdened with goals that through today’s lenses feel unachievable. Yet, these times call upon us to develop more mental and sometimes physical muscle – and fast. Performance management and bonus discussions conducted in this unique time will deeply color perceptions and longer-term allegiances. How will you leverage this unique opportunity?

Some critical questions to ponder:

• What are the unique business conditions your company has experienced and how will they impact performance management and bonus discussions?
• How confident are you that those discussions will reflect your company’s core values?
• What have you done differently this year to prepare your leaders for these discussions?
• What unique opportunities for development does this time represent?

In today’s roiling business waters, navigating the performance management course tests the skills of even our most adept leaders. While the waters are treacherous, the organizational and development payoffs are more than worth the voyage.

Barry Stern is vice president, Consulting Services and Delivery for Development Dimensions International (DDI).

When There is No Crystal Ball

By Kelli Buczynski

The job interview (and the content of them) is my favorite debate to follow, so I couldn’t resist responding to "My Beef with BI (Behavioral Interviewing)" by Darci Riesenhuber on TomPeters!.

The author is questioning the validity of the ‘past predicts future’ philosophy of the behavioral interview for candidates who have little or no work experience (recent college graduates), candidates with limited experience in a job similar to the open position (someone changing fields) or candidates who are reentering the work force after an absence. 

Can you ask someone new to the job world about their experience leading a team, managing a project or overcoming a difficult work obstacle if this will be their first real job?

Based on my experience, the answer is YES!  The interviewer’s role is to help candidates focus on examples from their work, educational or other life experiences. I remember my first behavioral interview out of college and how I struggled at first to think of examples. After a few of my “I can’t think of an example from my summer job” responses, the interviewer “coached” me to look at my experiences working on project teams at school, situations with my roommate and other decisions.

As the interview progressed, I became more confident in sharing examples that I may not have thought “worthy” of sharing. I don’t think anyone conducting a behavioral interview would be opposed to fresh-from-school candidate using volunteer, extracurricular or social membership examples to see how someone handles themselves in work-LIKE situations. For example, “You said that you worked on a school group project where you had to make difficult decisions. Tell me about one of them.”

Of course, learning agility is just as important for those freshly minted grads, as they’re going to have to get up to speed fast. After I get a behavioral example, I love to ask “what would you do differently?” when someone shares an unsuccessful story. It’s a great way to assess the candidate’s ability to learn. 

But more than anything—if a candidate seems great, but doesn’t have examples in any of the areas that are critical for the job—they’re probably not the right candidate for you.

Kelli Buczynski is a manager with Development Dimensions International (DDI).

Have You Forgotten Aldo?

By Verity Bissett-Powell

After completing my university exams I had a couple of weeks to kill before graduating and joining the real world. I spent these days immersed in a pc game called “Sims” which allowed me to control various electronic individuals and build a community. I managed their well being and happiness through directing them when to eat, drink, relax, etc. Unfortunately multi-tasking these various activities was not always easy. While focusing on building a house for Dominic, I would neglect Aldo, resulting in him falling asleep at inappropriate moments of the day and Aldo’s ‘smiley face’ barometer flashing a dangerous red to catch my attention.

Over half of today’s workforce has reported that they are feeling stagnant. Consider this a flashing red barometer: your workforce is not smiling.

In the current slumping economy, organizations have redirected their focus towards productivity, selling, managing costs, and are neglecting their employees. These workers are unmotivated, uninspired, and uninterested. Of the individual contributors who said they felt stagnant 46% divulged that they “just do their job and go home”. These are the people producing your products, managing your money, and conversing with your customers. You cannot afford to ignore them.

How did I deal with Aldo? I found that spending some time checking his assorted barometers to see what he needed helped. In his case, food, shower, and sleep were the right solution to move the smiley face indicator toward green bars. I would recommend a different combination for your workers: Talk to them individually to discover their motivations, seek opportunities to give them exciting challenges, and show them how they directly contribute to organization success. You manage them. You can put smiles back on their faces.

Verity Bissett-Powell is a Consultant with Development Dimensions International (DDI).

Will Opportunity Knock?

By Brad Schneider, Ph.D.

Opportunity passes by your door a thousand times a day……but it never stops to knock
   – Ben Vareen

It was 30 years ago when I saw Ben Vareen on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. I can’t tell you if he danced well or how he sang – it’s not what mattered.  What resonated with me – and what I vividly remember three decades later – is what he said to Johnny as they sat on the couch.

Just to drive the point, since 1954 there have been thousands of guests on the show. Some, such as Joey Bishop, have sat on that couch 177 times. I don’t remember any of them.

Fast forward 30 years, and I’m sitting in a hotel lobby in Dallas. As I glance at the counter, the cover story in USA Today reads that high unemployment has resulted in perhaps the most talented candidate pool of all time.

In fact, according to the U.S. Department of Labor, since 1948, unemployment has peaked 11 times, each coinciding with a brief recession.  As we sit on the verge of economic recovery – an S&P 500 that’s above 1000 and 50% up from it’s low back in March, ever decreasing new unemployment claims, and a housing market with new signs of growth, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist – or a great singer and dancer, for that matter – to figure out that unemployment is going to drop. As it does, the cream of the current candidate pool will be hired right off the top….by either you or your competition.

Organizations have a brief window of opportunity to quickly and efficiently identify top performers from among the crowd—using tools like employment tests—and bring them on board before their competitors hire the best of the best.

The only question is whether you’re going to let this opportunity pass by your door.

Brad Schneider, Ph.D., is a Senior Consultant with Development Dimensions International (DDI).