Empowered on Hiring
Too often the company thinks that, if they want to compete with the likes of Google and Amazon, they need to hire exceptional people. This is a dangerous misconception.
Let me be clear on this: the best product companies hire competent people of character, and then coach and develop them into members of extraordinary teams. (Cagan and Jones 2021, pt. III)
I’d like to give you a list of four broad work attributes. You’re a product person, so I already expect that you’re strong in each. But I highly doubt that you consider yourself equally competent in all of them. So, I’m going to ask you to stack rank them in order of strongest to weakest. (Cagan and Jones 2021, chap. 28)
Some helpful checkpoints along the way:
- At the end of her first day. Has she made at least one hopefully future friend on the team? Does she know what is expected of her?
- At the end of her first week. How was her first week? Has she had a chance to get to know personally every member of her product team?
- After she receives her first paycheck. It’s normal for the new employee to do a subconscious assessment of the choice she made in joining your company.
- After her first month. At this point, the new employee has a fairly good idea of the company and her potential in it.
- After her first 60 days. Has she scored a public “win” that helps establish her value to the company? (Cagan and Jones 2021, chap. 31)
- How are decisions made?
- How have they been made in the past?
- What is important to the company now?
- What are we working toward? How can I get people to trust me?
- What’s the most important thing to do right now?
With these questions in mind, I created a five‐day intensive bootcamp program for product people to participate in during their first week on the job. (Cagan and Jones 2021, chap. 32)