Zero Defect Hiring

He raised the problems with his coworkers in Japan, but they were afraid. Their advice was to do nothing. In the end, however, he acted.

He called the American president of the joint-venture partner, a man with whom he had previously established a good relationship. The candidate reported that the company was about to face some severe financial discrepancies and serious losses. Although the president seemed sympathetic, he made it clear that his primary loyalty was to the Japanese boss, someone he had dealt with for years. The president advised the young man that he should also remain loyal. The message the 27-year-old heard was that he had done the wrong thing by going over his boss's head. Devastated, the young man made preparations to leave Japan. Then the floor caved in. His Japanese boss quit quite dramatically, and shortly after, audits began to reveal the extent of his corruption: inaccurate sales figures, falsified advertising expenditures in the millions of dollars, and missing corporate funds.

"What did I learn from the experience?" asked the candidate. "As a foreigner, I saw that Americans tend to invest in and trust Japanese, like my former boss, who speaks adequate English. It's an understandable but often expensive mistake. On a more personal note, I also learned that I made the correct decision. By facing my fears and dealing directly with an ethical dilemma, I came to respect myself more."

After hearing the candidate's story, the interviewer called references in Tokyo. The vice-president of sales confirmed the young man's story. The Japanese vice-president for finance, who had been with his company for 33 years, also confirmed the young man's story. "He blew the whistle," said the manager, adding, "he saved our company."

By confronting adversity and telling the truth, the young man also got the job we were interviewing him for.

All the hiring strategies presented were designed to save time and to help us make the best possible choices. But there's no getting around it--those choices initially take time to make.

There's a story about a man in a rowboat that illustrates the point. From a nearby shore, a woman sees the man in trouble. He's rowing like crazy, getting nowhere. Then she notices that the rowboat has a bad leak and is sinking. She shouts to the man, but he's too busy bailing and rowing to hear her. She continues to shout; he continues to row and bail like crazy. Finally, she yells, "Hey, if you don't bring that boat ashore and repair the leak, you're going to drown!" The man replies, "Can't you see, lady, I don't have time to fix the damn leak."

The story reminds me that we all need to come ashore on occasion and fix our leaky boats. This is true at work and at home. Even if we don't have much time. Even without all the tools.

So experiment. Remember that Thomas Edison, Jonas Salk, and all the giant contributors to the way we experience life today spent about 98% of their time investigating the things that didn't work before they found what did. Success in hiring represents the 2% that results from the 98% that is so-called failure. Success is achieved only through patience and practice.

Is it worth the time to find great players? Yes. Nothing you do at work is more important than selecting the right people. No matter how times change, this principle never will. At least I hope it won't. Hiring smart comes back 10-fold to every organization that I know.

Dr. Pierre Mornell is a psychiatrist who helps the presidents of companies large and small evaluate and select key people. He has been a consultant to Intuit, Kinko's, Northern Telecom (Canada), American Golf Corp., Hellman & Friedman, Young Presidents' Organization, World Presidents' Organization, Pentagram Design, the Institute for the Future, and other organizations. He lives in Marin County, north of San Francisco.

Adapted from Hiring Smart! How to Predict Winners and Losers in the Incredibly Expensive People-Reading Game, by Dr. Pierre Mornell. Ten Speed Press, P.O. Box 7123, Berkeley, CA 94707; 800-841-2665. Copyright © 1998 by Pierre Mornell.

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