The most important business article this decade

The Big Idea the remainder of this decade and beyond will be talent - - how do you define it, who has it, and how do you acquire it.  Constant change and shifting demographics demand this new focus on new ways of thinking about engineering potential. 

The current issue of Harvard Business Review has a superior article on the subject by Claudio Fernandez-Araoz - - 21st Century Talent Spotting: Why potential now trumps brains, experience, and "competencies".  Read this article.  Then read it again.  Then go to Monster or job postings on Black & Veatch or GE or Bechtel or Boeing or any of a thousand others.  Read those job postings and then consider this statement from the article:

"In the past few decades, organizations have emphasized "competencies" in hiring and developing talent.  Jobs have been decomposed into skills filled by candidates who have them.  But 21st-century business is too volatile and complex - and the market for top talent too tight - for that model to work anymore."

In your next interview, consider these questions to the candidate.  What do you do to broaden your thinking, experience, or personal development?  How would foster learning with your project team or in our organization?  What steps do you take to seek out the unknown?

Fernandez-Araoz points out a new path for dealing with a scarcity of talent and the need for better hiring practices.  Engineers will still need to be judged by intelligence, values, experience, and leadership potential.  But also consider these qualities:

• Curiosity - a penchant for seeking out new experiences, knowledge, and candid feedback and an openness to learning and change.
• Insight - the ability to gather and make sense of information that suggests new possibilities.
• Engagement - a knack for using emotion and logic to communicate a persuasive vision and connect with people.
• Determination - the wherewithal to fight for difficult goals despite challenges and to bounce back from adversity.