Can psychology predict who will go off the rails?
So the former chairman of the UK’s leading ethical bank has been revealed as having an illegal drug habit and a colourful private life not entirely in-keeping with his image as an upstanding member of the community and man of the church. Naturally questions have been asked about just what kind of assessment or vetting process the Co-Op and the Financial Services Authority put him through prior to approving his appointment. My guess is that the “rigorous interview” didn’t involve a psychologist. Now I’m not suggesting that a psychologist could – or even should – identify criminal, or other ‘undesirable’, ...
Why it doesn’t pay to be too smart when you’re learning
How quickly do you learn? Are you one of those people who picks things up with ease? Feel slightly smug in training courses? Don’t need anything explaining twice? Well here’s a way of thinking about learning that might give you pause for thought. From my favourite assessment measure, the Cognitive Process Profile (CPP), comes the distinction between ‘Quick Insight’ and ‘Gradual Improvement’ learning. Quick insight learning is when you pick things up through learning a new theory or by putting ideas together to come up with one of those ‘Aha’ moments (as I did when I came up with this ...
The importance of managerial judgement
In my last blog post, I looked at how you can tell whether someone has the intellectual firepower to cope with a senior job. This is incredibly important but it's just the start. In situations where there is no 'right answer', people need to exercise judgement and a surprising number of people find this difficult. Good judgement pre-supposes that you've understood the situation correctly - but it's more than that. I'd say that the two key additional factors are courage and intuition. Courage Some people just don't want the responsibility of making decisions. It takes courage to nail your colours ...
How do you know if someone is up to the job?
You’ve got a vacancy for senior position. It’s critical you get the right person. You’ve got a range of qualified, experienced candidates to choose from. How do you know which ones are up to the job? I don’t mean here ‘Will they take on the responsibility?’ or ‘Can they handle the pressure?’. These are important factors and will be the subject of a future blog post. But much more fundamental than that is the question ‘Do they understand what they’re doing?’. Dealing with complex issues The more senior you are in an organisation, the more complex the issues you’re faced ...
Why you might not want to rely on gut feeling when hiring new staff
When you’re hiring staff, how quickly do you make up your mind? Are you one of those managers who prides themselves on knowing the minute someone steps through the door whether they’re right for you? You get that ‘gut feeling’, you just know? Well here are some scientifically-grounded reasons why you might want to rethink your reliance on gut feeling. We all make judgements about people all the time. It’s human nature. We form impressions based on how someone looks and moves and speaks, on their clothes, their accent – and that’s before we take any account at all of ...
Can psychology predict who will go off the rails?
So the former chairman of the UK’s leading ethical bank has been revealed as having an illegal drug habit and a colourful private life not entirely in-keeping with his image as an upstanding member of the community and man of the church. Naturally questions have been asked about just what kind of assessment or vetting process the Co-Op and the Financial Services Authority put him through prior to approving his appointment. My guess is that the “rigorous interview” didn’t involve a psychologist. Now I’m not suggesting that a psychologist could – or even should – identify criminal, or other ‘undesirable’, ...
Why it doesn’t pay to be too smart when you’re learning
How quickly do you learn? Are you one of those people who picks things up with ease? Feel slightly smug in training courses? Don’t need anything explaining twice? Well here’s a way of thinking about learning that might give you pause for thought. From my favourite assessment measure, the Cognitive Process Profile (CPP), comes the distinction between ‘Quick Insight’ and ‘Gradual Improvement’ learning. Quick insight learning is when you pick things up through learning a new theory or by putting ideas together to come up with one of those ‘Aha’ moments (as I did when I came up with this ...
The importance of managerial judgement
In my last blog post, I looked at how you can tell whether someone has the intellectual firepower to cope with a senior job. This is incredibly important but it's just the start. In situations where there is no 'right answer', people need to exercise judgement and a surprising number of people find this difficult. Good judgement pre-supposes that you've understood the situation correctly - but it's more than that. I'd say that the two key additional factors are courage and intuition. Courage Some people just don't want the responsibility of making decisions. It takes courage to nail your colours ...
How do you know if someone is up to the job?
You’ve got a vacancy for senior position. It’s critical you get the right person. You’ve got a range of qualified, experienced candidates to choose from. How do you know which ones are up to the job? I don’t mean here ‘Will they take on the responsibility?’ or ‘Can they handle the pressure?’. These are important factors and will be the subject of a future blog post. But much more fundamental than that is the question ‘Do they understand what they’re doing?’. Dealing with complex issues The more senior you are in an organisation, the more complex the issues you’re faced ...
Why you might not want to rely on gut feeling when hiring new staff
When you’re hiring staff, how quickly do you make up your mind? Are you one of those managers who prides themselves on knowing the minute someone steps through the door whether they’re right for you? You get that ‘gut feeling’, you just know? Well here are some scientifically-grounded reasons why you might want to rethink your reliance on gut feeling. We all make judgements about people all the time. It’s human nature. We form impressions based on how someone looks and moves and speaks, on their clothes, their accent – and that’s before we take any account at all of ...
