Did You See That?

 

You might expect to see polar bears on your street during a winter mega-storm. And you might expect to see polar bears if you popped your periscope up in the Antarctic.

What if you see polar bears somewhere else? Have you ever seen that before?

Pattern recognition is an important part of professional work. A lot of stock market work is done using charting, which is a fancy way of saying "I've seen this before." The dirty secret is than anyone can chart stocks (etc.) using financial websites, thus "I've seen this before" starts to sound a lot like "I've been in this job for a long time." Question is, how does the person turn their experience into action?

It is well-known that experience is not a reliable indicator of performance. Instead it is a reliable indicator of minimum competence, and sometimes that counts. 

But when you need an effective professional for your hedge fund or cybersecurity role, minimum competence is not enough. You need a talented new hire.

Talented employees are needed in two workplace situations: 1, everyone is minimally competent; 2, exceptional performance matters.

If you as an employer can't tell the difference between exceptional and adequate performance, or -- come one now, be honest -- this difference is immaterial to your business, then you don't need talented employees and instead you need minimally competent ones. 

We at Pythia propose that employers who choose minimally competent cybersecurity technicians run a higher risk of being hacked. We recommend -- free consulting alert -- that if you're going to hire for minimally competent technicians, then you must hire talented cybersecurity managers. A talented manager will get the most possible out of minimally competent technicians. But if you go with minimally competent technicians and minimally competent managers, don't be surprised to see polar bears coming at you.

Ask us how we can help you set your sights on the cybersecurity talent that matters.