Thursday Edition

dispatches from the new world of work

The "Eye-sparkle Factor"

Some people's eyes have an engaging, infectious "sparkle." Some don't. Hire [only?] those who "have it"?

I was lecturing on "talent selection"—and the use of unconventional measures for so doing. At a break I made the following comment to a youthful Participant: "Suppose you & I were opening the restaurant of our dreams. We'd both put in $75,000 ... effectively our life's savings. We were 'betting the farm.' We had a great idea, a very good location, a terrific chef. Now the time had come to hire waiters & waitresses. Numerous applicants had satisfactory+ 'restaurant experience,' but several didn't. One young woman [man] in particular was a rank amateur—but had the most compelling 'sparkle' in her/his eye. How would that 'sparkle' rank in your hire-no hire consideration?" No great surprise, we both agreed, despite a 30-year experience differential, that the "sparkle" pretty much ruled. (Or some like measures—e.g., hustle, enthusiasm.) Fact is, the Participant in question ran a 40-person bit of an IS/IT department. And my real goal was to urge her to use the "Eye-sparkle Factor" in IS/IT hiring almost to the same degree as in "our" choice of a waiter/waitress!

Tom Peters posted this on 01/17/05.

Comments

Bravo! My translation for the eye-sparkle is passion. I work within the IT Community, specifically focusing on enterprise metadata. I can teach anyone the basic concepts, frameworks, and technology that deliver our metadata service and products. I canâ€™t teach passion, nor have I been all that successful in seeding passion over the long haul. Hire for passion, you can teach the rest.

What I have found is that while not many people have passion for metadata, I can find people that live for data quality, they breathe internet technologies, or can discuss online design for weeks. Perhaps the key for managers is not forcing passion but becoming organizers of passion-able components.

Posted by RTodd at January 17, 2005 2:24 PM

A few years ago I worked for a 'new media' company who had a policy of hiring 'older' trainees - i.e. over 30 instead of 18 - 25. Lots of reasons .. stability, maturity, reliability being some.

But probably most importantly becuase the over 30s were usually making a career change to enter the field we worked in. This meant there were more people with the right "fire in the eye", even if they did not have appropriate qualifications or experience. They found a lot of very talented, driven people.

I was one lucky enough to be hired by this company. 4 years later I started my own consultancy and have never looked back.

Posted by Steve Howard at January 17, 2005 4:31 PM

I also ran a Fortune 500 IT Department. I would look at every application, then sent the an online test. Based upon the scores and time taken, I would have a staff member do a quick phone interview with them to test them on the tech and if they were compatible with the group.

When the applicant came in, we never asked on tech question. We just wanted to answer their questions and find out what made them tick. If they had "it", they were made an offer asap! It would take about 10 - 15 personal interviews to find the candidate, and it was gruelling for the team to wait to fill the position.

However, it is 5 years later, and every member of the team is still in contact, and back in the day it was a team to be envied by others divisions in the corporation.

Posted by Tom at January 17, 2005 6:43 PM

Yup! No question about it!

The eye-sparkle factor, the passion, the power of heartfelt motivation, the burning desire to make a goddam difference is what I ALWAYS, A-L-W-A-Y-S look for in any person applying for a role with the software company I run. That's for trainees, IT people, testing experts, sales people... Everyone. No exceptions. Period. I actually run the test on myself every morning. If ever the sparkle is not there in the morning when I shave, I'll fire myself!

Â« One sees clearly only with the heart. Anything essential is invisible to the eyes Â» â€“ The Little Prince, Antoine de Saint-ExupÃ©ry

Posted by Alex at January 17, 2005 6:52 PM

I agree - the friendly, kind [please/thanks] sparkling personality rules. Ease of relations is SO MUCH MORE productive. Fun makes it happen.

The best marathon I ever ran was with someone who laughed with me for 20+ miles - somehow we just had the most FUN. And the extra oxygen and uplift made it a party.

Posted by John at January 18, 2005 10:52 AM

My background is in IT and Customer Service Management arena. I've seen few who can be more sparkle-eyed than a techie: a drawing on the back of napkin is often enough to get 'em fired-up. It then just about becomes a 'til-the-end Cause for them.

My time in the service industry has shown true sparklers harder to find. My experiences in most retail establishments seem to confirm my selfish hope that I'm not alone in this search. But I don't know any industry where plain 'ol spark can have such an immediate, direct and positive impact on your customer.

Reminds me of what Jerry Kaplan, in his book "Startup" said(on p38):

"We soon developed a simple technique for selecting candidates: check their credentials, tell them about the project, and then observe their immediate reaction. We judged their suitability by their level of enthusiasm."

Still, for all the talk about how important attitude/passion/enthusiasm/etc. is, I'm a tad cynical about just how many companies are actually willing to pay a premium for the trait. Like many things, more lip-service by those who just don't Get It!

Posted by Russell A. Hatfield Jr. at January 18, 2005 1:05 PM