WSJ: Why companies should hire teams – Not individuals

WSJ Hiring Talented Teams Best
WSJ Hiring Talented Teams Best

“Why Companies Should Hire Teams, Not Individuals” is Sydney Finkelstein’s new article by in the Wall Street Journal (C-Suite Strategies front page print edition Oct. 30, 2017).

Some companies are breaking out of typical problems of hiring piecemeal, by hiring pre-existing groups.

Why do this? Because talented teams have already demonstrated excellence in a specialized task or function, and it’s easier and cheaper to tap those teams than to create new teams of your own.  They also may have unique skills honed by unique experiences.

The Benefits of hiring a team:

  • It allows companies to hire more reliably, based on proven track record. You know there is a good mix of personalities & skills for success.
  • Teams shake things up in a good way, because if you need innovation then you need a certain level of disruption.
  • Teams are able to contribute much more quickly.
  • Teams more likely to retain their fresh perspectives.
  • …and finally, research shows that job interviews poorly predict future job performance.

Please take a look at the article, which ends with:

“It requires that they rethink their processes from top to bottom, taking on sacred cows and best practices. From that perspective, hiring teams might be exactly what leaders should start working on — not least because their less adventurous competitors aren’t.”

The full URL :
https://www.wsj.com/articles/why-companies-should-hire-teams-not-individuals-1509329580

Latest Brain research Nov-2017

There is some interesting new brain research.  These high-level articles are less techy, but they may provide some inspiration. We believe it is important to learn more about how the brain works for future AI work. I often use the following, “when designing planes it is inspiring to look at bird flight, but don’t try to stick with all of their design principles when designing a plane for Mach 6.7” The same applies to AI.

How memories ripple through the brain:
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/10/171031084843.htm
from here you can find the link to their journal article that goes into more detail.

Creating Virtual Human Brain:
http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2017/10/25/559819023/scientists-and-surgeons-team-up-to-create-models-of-living-human-brain-cells
Allen Institue’s awesome .gif

Allen Institute
Allen Institute