TLNT, Sep 20, 2010
Creative thinking skills according to the author, help people solve important problems when the by-the-book way does not work.
She says that she made many hiring mistakes by looking for job skills — by keeping her interview only to the specifications of what needed to be done by the person in the next six to 12 months.
People who come in with very impressive experience and just the right skills to do the job that needed to be done right now tempt companies to hire them because they can see how they will immediately take some pain away. But once those conditions change around them , they are more often than not, stuck. They don’t adapt easily and need to find another job that matches their skills vs. being able to step up to do the new job that needs to be done.
The people who can do the job today as well as learn and adapt to changed conditions, are the most valuable hires.
A creative thinker who is a fast learner will turn out to be a star. To do that ask questions that get at how the person thinks and in the interview process try and assess how much potential the person has to learn, and judge how fast they will grow.
The author shares some of the approaches she has used from hiring summer interns to top executives.
1. Puzzles: Give someone a puzzle to solve and how they do it will tell you how they are thinking about approaching the problem. They will ask you more questions about it. Hire the person who is doing something with the problem.
2. Stories: Ask for stories about how the world was different when they first got into a job compared to how it is now. What did they think needed to be done? What new ideas did they come up with? What changes did they drive? If they just did the job as-is for a few years, and did not grow the responsibility or usefulness of their role, they are not a top hire.
3. Actual Problems: Tell them a situation that you are facing that needs a solution. Ask them to talk through how they would approach it. The ones that say, “I don’t know yet, I’d need to get into the job first,” are not your top people. The ones that ask a bunch more questions and say, “Of course I’d need to listen and learn more, but from what I know right now this is what I think”… and start offering insights, have stronger creative thinking skills.
Information You Can Use. Knowledge You Can Trust
This summary is taken from Business Leaders Digest monthly(www.busleadersdigest.com)
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