We’re doing a lot of hiring at Mayday at the moment. It feels like a great time to write about the subject, both to share my learnings, as well as organise my thinking for practical application.
I was introduced to the idea of the Bozo Explosion, by Gary Turner, the Co-Founder and long-time UK and EMEA MD at Xero. It is the idea that if you compromise your standards in hiring, it will become a race to the bottom.
A players want to work with people who are better than them in particular areas, who stretch them, who they can learn from. They look up for how they can improve. That’s what makes them A players. They embody the spirit of Mia Hamm’s quote: “Many people say I’m the best women’s soccer player in the world. I don’t think so. And because of that, someday I just might be.”
B players on the other hand look down and worry about looking inferior by comparison to other people on the team. This leads to B players hiring C players and so on. The race to the bottom plays out ad-infinitum.
It can be tempting to rationalise a lowering of standards with “just this once”. The Bozo Explosion makes a mockery of that. It is easier to stick to your principles 100% of the time than 98%.
I’m fond of the idea of the first 10 hires dictate the next 100, who in turn dictate the next 1,000. Hiring is SO important.