Hiring the right people

I came across a fascinating write up (and equally informative discussion on the Hacker News forum) on people staying behind the scenes and making a difference. I can identify this with myself. I prefer to stay behind instead of coming out on the forefront and blog consistently. As of writing this, I have at least a month and a half of scheduled postings and many more to come!

In any business, including the creative ones, there are really only three types of advantages you can have over your competitors:

Resources: You have money to burn, and they don’t

Behavioral: You naturally do something that they don’t

Information: You know something they don’t

When a writer buys $200,000 worth of their own book in order to guarantee it lands on the bestseller list (yes, this happens), that’s a resource advantage. They have enough money to manipulate the system, giving them an edge, even against people who may be better writers.

If someone writes compulsively, and just can’t help themselves, that’s a behavioral advantage. They have an edge over the person who has to force themselves to sit down and write.

Source: How To Write Stuff No One Else Can – The Write to Roam

The summary of the discussion:

Finding interesting people who are under the radar takes some legwork and research beyond just looking at polished LinkedIn profiles. You need to look deeper.
Hiring based mainly on previous famous company experience or flashy credentials is unlikely to yield the best hires, who may leave quickly for a better title elsewhere.
There is valuable talent among people who are less focused on curating perfect online profiles and resumes full of company names.
It requires effort to uncover the “gold” of high-potential employees waiting to be discovered among less visible candidates.
Quickly hiring and losing an “important role” like CMO after just 3 months may not indicate something bad – the full context could provide a different interpretation.
Context and deeper investigation are needed to properly evaluate experiences listed on profiles at face value.
Valuable insights come from being prepared to do extra research beyond just superficial impressions.
The best hires may come from looking beyond the obvious candidates prominently displaying credentials.
Hiring based on flashy attributes alone is an inefficient use of budget that risks high employee turnover.
Discovering hidden talent yields better results than only considering the most visible and well-marketed candidates.

The most important takeaway is this though:

Zack spent his time combing through old newspapers, absorbing the comments in very niche Facebook groups, or rifling through long-forgotten boxes in the dark corners of museum archives.

Almost as a rule, he tried to avoid talking to big, well-known names. Instead preferring the people who were deep in the trenches, had lots of experience, and almost zero attention.

He wrote what no one else could because he looked where no one else would.

And he (read, “we”) were rewarded for it. The pieces were insanely popular. To this day, it’s common to surf Hacker News and see one of the old Sunday Stories from years ago trending on the front page again.

When you write what no one else can, people want to share.

I don’t go to conferences. I don’t go to social gatherings. I am my most comfortable self in creating my personal knowledge domains. I am wedded to this idea now. Every moment is directed towards finding out the most efficient way to achieve end goals. Think about it. It is incredibly rewarding.