I will be posting daily excerpts of Hiring Secrets of the NFL, by Isaac Cheifetz, Catalytic1 Executive Search, over the next two weeks leading up to the Super Bowl.
Hiring Secrets of the NFL #5- Keep it Simple
The best indicator of future performance is past performance, “betting on form”, as the horseracing expression goes. Challenging this statistical rule of nature is OK, as long you don’t invest a lot in these bets.
If your obsession drives you to continue on this path nonetheless, you may be the next great innovator in your profession: the next Bill Belichick in the NFL; the next Ross Perot, who founded EDS and the computer outsourcing industry; or the next Fred Smith, founder of Federal Express and next-day delivery. But if you are, be aware that most revolutionary businesses are radically innovative in one—note that’s only one—aspect: technology for Apple, logistics for Wal-Mart and Dell.
I often caution entrepreneurs that if they are reinventing the wheel in some critical aspect of their business, they ought to be energetically but unimaginatively competent in their hiring practices. The risk to the organization of innovating on more than one front is nearly insurmountable.