The world’s meteoric rise to Mediocrity ,and your place in it.

By Nick on April 8, 2011 in Front page

IS THIS FOR REAL …..

I was going to write the second instalment about re-inventing yourself when I was blind sided by an interesting article on how Narcissistic the modern generation has become.To add insult to injury I then read how the people who watched Fox news had got dumber over the years. Which has caused me to look at just what success Western society has achieved, how we have got here and more importantly the steps we need to get out of it. And guess what you are not going to like this…….

THROW OUT POLITICAL CORRECTNESS

That’s right, this nonsense that all things are equal and everyone should be praised for just participating no matter what the outcome (because we no longer believe in winning). That’s right natural selection no longer applies folks “run the Rhino’s charging” it doesn’t matter how fast you are….. yeah right, Iv’e had enough. People (children included) should be rewarded for their effort, not just because they participated. Effort is about doing the best YOU can not measuring yourself against others. So now we teach children there is no need to exert yourself because there is no value in effort, they are amazing even if they just do average. So tell me folks how is average ever going to be sufficient for the worlds future?

IN BUSINESS IT’S EVEN WORSE

We have developed a culture where the politically correct have cornered the market and their mediocrity has spread out like cancer. We have allowed the timid to influence who gets hired, and the timid only hire people who are no threat to them (why would you hire someone who might be better suited for your job).

I was once asked to do a psychometric assessment for a position I was applying for, when the results came back the recruiter said “look at your profile no one will want to hire you they will think you want their job next”. So did I get the job, of course not I wasn’t even put forward. When I challenged the recruiter I was told I wasn’t what they were looking for, the recruiter couldn’t understand how my experience could help this company… end of story.

Businesses are getting short changed by the people who recruit for them and their own HR departments, who have no idea because they actually don’t understand anything about business. And who misses out here… well the business of course. So businesses just get what they have always got, which is a kind of inbreeding, and inbreeding….. well that leads to

DUMBING THINGS DOWN

Now this is not the same as simplifying something to its minimum viable product, no this is about deliberately reducing business risk by not hiring someone who might…rock the boat or challenge the norm.

When it comes to Directors and board members then real damage can be done. In NZ, Boards have developed this anti-challenging mentality of everything is about risk and steady as she goes, and this view leads to… well nowhere really.

Directors are hired by their mates, or by reputation, seldom are they hired because they are the best person for that position. Board make up is critical for sustainable business and members should be required to undergo a psychometric test to see if they have the skills and are the right fit in order for a board to have a diverse and robust make up.

SO WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO

Hire people for their skills, not just because they have done the job before.
Test people for traits and styles to compliment the business requirements.
Hire people who are smarter than us to give our businesses the best chance of survival.
Hire people who can challenge us no matter how uncomfortable it might be.
Embrace change (it’s coming anyway) and hire people who can deal with it.
Get rid of people who always say why it CAN”T be done.
And remember that just because someone has a piece of paper that says they can do something, doesn’t mean they can, and just because they don’t doesn’t mean they can’t.