Collective Wisdom from the Experts 15
But somewhere along the way, things went horribly wrong. I realized we had
stopped investing in our employees’ growth. We weren’t looking for fresh, new
talent. We were looking for very specific, already refined, skills. Now, I tell
people that if they see an employer hiring for an exact skill match, what that
employer is really saying is, “We don’t plan to invest in you.”
My advice to anyone seeking to build a strong team is to hire for talents, not
for skills. What talents do I look for when hiring technologists for my agile
development teams? Good kindergarten skills:
• Do the candidates get along well with others?
• Do they play nice?
• Do they put their things away when they have finished playing?
• Are they excited about new things?
• Do they like learning?I can teach skills. In fact, in our agile team environment, learning technology
is fast and easy. However, it is nearly impossible to teach an adult how to play
nice.
Hiring for talents, not for skills, is a radically different way to build a team.
However, I want to work with those who are poised to move enthusiastically
beside me into exciting, new future technology.