Here is an easy way to see if there is alignment between
a hiring manager and an employee. Ask them both the same question: "Do you
want to be right, or do you want to be rich?"
Said another way: "Which is more important to you:
your ego or your value?"
I have used this many times, and it is always a great way
to figure out whether the basic premise under which someone works is aligned to
the person that is hiring them.
"Being right" is not about being correct. It is
about craving certainty more than clarity. It is about demanding that your
vision be upheld at all possible costs. Sometimes the "being right"
person produces great results: Amazon.com is a good example. So is Monet and
the whole Impressionist movement.
In the same way, "being rich" isn't about
money. It's about delivering value, even that means the vision is corrupted.
Most business people are "being rich" types because they understand
the world is a complex place that and getting half a loaf is better than
probably getting none. Or it could be that their greedy, soulless bastards.
What happens when you put a "rich" person with
a "right" one? Usually it's a disaster. Ms. Right has no patience for
what they perceive as the conditional values and shifting approach of Mr. Rich.
Mr. Rich has no understanding of someone who would rather go down with the ship
than swim for shore.
One person can be "Right" in some instances and
"Rich" in another. You have to explore the specific conditions of the
project and culture. It can also be the case that you have a "Right"
leader and a "Rich" team: the leader is unyielding (Steve Jobs) and the
team does what it takes to ship a successful product(the original Mac goes out
the AppleTalk even if Steve doesn't like it). It is rarely the case that a
"Right" employee works well for a "Rich" boss.
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