It Seems To Me

Thoughts and Rants on Technology, Business and Politics

As I continue my job search here in the UK, I occasionally check the online job boards for positions that might appeal to me. The job openings listed on these sites are almost exclusively posted by head-hunters and recruiters. The dynamic between these agencies and the client company presents what I consider to be a most unfortunate hiring scenario.

Inevitably, the recruiters and agencies are inundated with a deluge of CVs for each position. They whittle the stack down to a few candidates who match the job description in every detail. That is, they have 3 - 5 candidates who have previously done this exact job, in this exact industry. These square pegs are offered to the client for a fit into a square hole.

What is wrong with this picture? Why would you hire someone who has done the exact job in the same industry? Employees perform best when they are challenged—when they are stretched to grow into new areas. Instead of square pegs in square holes, you should hire people for whom your position is the next step in their career development. Identifying this potential is much harder than checking of a list of requirements but it is absolutely essential to find the people who will grow your business while they grow themselves.

The dysfunction of the recruiter / client relationship is that the recruiter is forced to put forth vanilla candidates that precisely match some sterile list of requirements. There is no room to find the dynamic, ambitious, energetic candidate who can master a new environment quickly and thrive in the new role.

And yet, I remain optimistic . . .

Now that the dust is beginning to settle on Carly's ouster from HP, it is interesting to see the analsys on where she went wrong. There are plenty of missteps and shortcomings to blame: from the missed earnings targets to the languishing stock price to the intense struggle with the Compaq merger.

But all of this critique begs the question of why Carly was hired into HP in the first place. Carly Fiorina was the first CEO of Hewlett Packard hired from outside the company. Her charge was to turn around the slumbering giant. But all leaders seek to drive change. Was Carly's selection for the top spot any different?

A recent commentary in Business Week reveals the extent to which she had a deep mandate from the board to transform the culture. Sam Ginn was the head of the HP Board CEO Search Committee at the time. According to Business Week, Ginn made it clear very early in the interview process that "The first thing we have to do is get rid of the HP Way."

The famous "HP Way" is deeply rooted and decades old. It is a casual, slow moving culture that some would say looks backwards rather than forward. Carly rose to the challenge of changing it. Waking this slumbering giant would not be easy and could not be undertaken half-heartedly. Incremental changes never have enough "escape velocity" to ensure that the changes won't evaporate back into the same old same old. Sometimes the best way to instigate a deep cultural change is through dramatic — even traumatic — events. The Compaq proxy fight and the massive reorganisations that she championed woke the giant. Carly's five years of confident, if not brash, leadership showed the employees of HP that there was another way to do business. Her smooth, articulate style got people looking forward rather than backwards.

In light of her goal to transform the culture at HP, her tenure there was always destined to be short. Leaders who effect dramatic change are always followed by ones who can restore operational stability. Rarely are these two leaders the same person, and Carly's weakness as an operational leader all but limited her long term role as the CEO.

As an outsider, I don't know that the culture has changed. My guess is that the culture today is not the same as it was 5 years ago. It is too soon to tell if any changes will snap back to pre-Carly norms. It seems to me that, if Carly's mission was to change the culture at HP, then she may have, in fact, succeeded.

Over the last few years I have sold more than 35 items on eBay. In addition to being great fun, I have redeemed a few pennies on the dollar for some of the gadgets and toys that I have "repurposed."

My online reputation is extremely important to me and I have worked very hard to maintain an impeccable record on eBay. I answer all inquiries promptly and ship immediately, usually the same day. I only post items when I know I will have the time to respond to inquiries quickly and ship immediately after the close of the auction. I have returned payment to buyers in the past who reported that the product arrived defective. I always leave positive comments for buyers when appropriate and have received dozens of accolades in return.

Last summer I was clearing out a bunch of old DVDs. A customer bought a copy of Short Circuit for a lousy $3.75 (with $3.50 shipping). I shipped it immediately and was happy for the extra shelf space on my DVD rack.

Three months later she posts the following negative comment on eBay:

DVD does not play properly! Would not buy from this seller again!

This is news to me. If the DVD didn't play, why didn't she contact me? She had my email address. I would have refunded her money immediately. I even would have let her keep the damn thing since it isn't worth the trouble to return it. (I will still refund her money as soon as she confirms her email address to me.)

Some DVD players can be finicky and Short Circuit is not exactly a Criterion Collection disc. It is not unreasonable that it did not play on her machine. Instead of allowing me the benefit of the doubt and the opportunity to refund her money, she slammed me on eBay with a negative comment. Thanks!

My online reputation is precious to me and negative comments weigh heavily on people's perception of a seller. I know that a single comment is not going to ruin my career on eBay but I am astounded at the thoughtlessness of this petty buyer. With one click of the mouse she has tarnished my reputation without giving me the opportunity to make it right.

Go figure!