Astaire "I don't understand how a system can predict high potentials. It can predict if I'll continue to perform well or poorly as an engineer, for example, but it has no data on how I'll perform as a manager or in marketing or in logistics.

No data = no prediction of any significance, statistical or otherwise.

Those deliberate job assignments and coaching opportunities and so forth have to come first in order to generate the data needed. After all, a mediocre, but generally honest, employee could become great at something else, if they are interested in that path"

This astute insight comes from Beth Robinson, a wonderful writer, chemical engineer, and MBA candidate whose web log tag line is Thinking Towards the Whole. Beth's comments are extra-welcome since we're focused on Systemic Thinking.

Talent Investors: Follow the Financial Caveat

Every financial prospectus carries the warning that "Past performance is no guarantee of future returns."

As Beth points out, the same is true of our own performance. Yet companies are locked in to the idea that past performance in one role can somehow indicate future success in another. The entire reality of systemic influence guarantees that the only way you know if someone is going to be successful is to put them into a new role. Assessment Centers offer the promise of simulating reality and many of them are darned good at placing candidates in situations to see how they will respond to given situations. They are helpful to the extent that you can see someone's actions and reactions, but in a sterile environment.

At work, people report to a real-life boss who is the biggest influence on their willingness and ability to perform; actual organizational systems and their idiosyncrasies are different than simulated ones; reward and recognition systems can lift up or demoralize the best performer; real marketplace changes will create sudden situations that will test character and adaptability; and none of these can be accurately captured outside of the system in which one has to operate.

Do you want to develop talent? Then give people hands-on experiences so they can learn and you can have evidence upon which to base decisions.

We don't put our money in a savings account to see how it will perform in the stock market. Why not show the same thoughtfulness to the organization and the people in it?


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