Wednesday, November 09, 2011

The Halo

"You know Ed, I've just been reviewing the performance of that executive you hired a few years ago."

"I know, he's had some problems."

"When you hired him, he had less management experience than the head of the local Burger King."

"But he had an Ivy League degree."

"So do several of our interns. Tell me again why he was selected for an executive post. Did he have some extraordinary accomplishment in his record?"

"No, but he was very well-spoken and appeared to have good judgment."

"So you picked him over some other contenders who had far more experience and some actual achievements under their belts?"

"I know it seems difficult to believe now, but he seemed, well, promising."

"We might try a 'promising' person in a middle management slot. We don't use executive positions for on-the-job training. This has been a very expensive training program."

"You're right. I blew it. I won't do it again. There was something else you wanted to discuss?"

"Yes. Your performance evaluation meeting is next week. Be prepared to talk about decision making."

2 comments:

John said...

One occasion is an event. Two or more is a trend.

Michael Wade said...

John,

Of course, one occasion can also be a disaster.

Michael