In particular I can appreciate his position on Double check your intuition, "The problem with intuition is that people only remember when their intuition was right--truth be told, their intuition was probably wrong as often as right."
Looking back on the good and bad hires I've made, I most certainly celebrate the ones I knew would be great just from intuition, but I have also made the bad, bad mistake of falling for the Intuition Influencers – those individuals that feed on the lazy by interviewing well, covering up their past tracks and spoon feeding references.
Hiring is one of the most stressful time for each person involved. Sticking to a formal process and help tremendously.
I’ve seen success in two models in weeding out these sneaky Intuition Influencers:
(1) Take the decision maker out of the initial screening process. Clearly communicate what you want, what you’re looking for and have someone internally handle the responses. Set it up so that the initial screeners is excited, but has clear instructions as to the skills, energy and personality type you are looking for.
(2) Team Hiring. This was very successful for my former agency. We would put together a team consisting of a position peer, manager and subordinate to conduct the initial meeting. Getting the perspective of what different individuals in different roles was eye opening. I once had an interviewee that would have hired on the spot, but the feedback was this guy is an as#4h%*le. Wow. That guy fooled me.
