I have been on several job interviews lately, and it amazes me that many companies (and interviewers) are still unable to think outside of the box. I continue to get asked the same standard questions over and over again, many of which are not even directly related to the position. When given a chance to ask my pre-prepared questions, several interviewers aren't even able to give solid answers to basic inquiries. In many cases, they end up hiring the same type of person who performed the same duties with a company in the exact same industry (note the repetition of the word "same" here?)
Six months later, I see the same positions advertised because the person they just hired already quit and changed companies. What's wrong with this picture? What's so frustrating is that many companies are unable to see beyond the words on a resume. Qualifications and experience are definitely important, but what about other signs that the candidate would be a good match?
If someone took a new communications job with a not-for-profit organization, had zero budget to work with and no paid staff (only volunteer help), and then was able to pull off a national awards show complete with major sponsorship deals and national media coverage...what does that tell you about that person - and their ability to build relationships, take initiative and complete a task?
Albert Einstein once said that "Our thinking creates problems which the same level of thinking can't solve." If businesses keep making decisions based on the same old criteria and belief in what are frequently outdated assumptions, then there will be no innovation - and no resulting growth. Yet many organizations keep complaining that they don't like the way things are, yet take no action to enable change. To recognize market opportunities or threats would mean challenging old assumptions and rules that made the company what it was in the first place.
Perhaps one answer to the dilemma is to incorporate more "ideas" people into organizations. People who are still able to work with the status quo, but are unafraid to shake things up a little bit.
James Champy, author of "Re-Engineering Management," describes the perception of business this way.."People like to think that businesses are built of numbers (as in the 'bottom-line'), or forces (as in 'market forces'), or things ('the product'), or even flesh and blood ('our people'). But this is wrong...Businesses are made of ideas - expressed as words."
If this is true, then the success of a business will be based on the quality of its ideas. As Howard Sherman and Ron Schultz say in their book "Open Boundaries: Creating Business Innovation Through Complexity"..."If our ideas are out of date, the behaviours they drive will be out of date."
It's time for businesses to think differently. History has shown that it is possible to be wildly successful and innovative. In fact, many of the world's major brands started as a result of great innovative ideas - HP, Coca-Cola, Ford, General Electric. What determines future success is their ability to let innovation guide them through a world of increasingly complex change.
