Recruit beyond the obvious circles
Thursday, July 19th, 2007
Rule number 4: Recruit beyond the obvious circles
Too many CEOs recruit their colleagues from the same top Business schools, the same “McKinsey alumni circles”, the same towns, the same country clubs, the same nationality, and often, the same race. What do you get? A safe bet, with people with the same mindset and the same vision. Wrong wrong and wrong! Diversity is the only road to innovation in small and large enterprises. There are obvious corporate role where it will be hard to recruit beyond the obvious profile: our dear accountants will rarely come from an anthropologist background…But there are many other corporate functions where the obvious choice is the wrong choice…
Pepsi Co. astonished the world (but why?) by bringing an Indian woman to lead Pepsi to new horizons. Did Pepsi made an innocent move by placing Indra Nooyi as new CEO, was it because there was nobody else able to do the job, or was this a well-calculated plan to have a fairly young, bold, Indian, female as new CEO of one of the world’s largest MNC? Did I hear “young-bold-Indian-female”? This really sounds like the anti-Christ description of Wall Street “obvious circles”…
Check your team, if you want to be a company that lives and breathes innovation you should have on your team people from very different backgrounds: a molecular engineer, an English literature graduate, a retired US navy pilot, a museum curator, an ex-private banker, a failed entrepreneur, a computer geek, etc.
However, don’t force diversity. Ultimately don’t try to build a fake dream team for the sake of it and good PR. The point is simple: don’t close your door to someone who does not fit your CV mold or your company typical ideal profile. The Cirque du Soleil, was not built by recruiting typical clowns and typical acrobats; it has nonetheless succeeded to become a near USD 1 billion global business…
It is no hazard if today’s most innovative countries are also the most cosmopolitan. A melting pot of origins will create a melting pot of ideas. I know it is a different debate, but little surprises if all the most disruptive innovations still come from the
Conclusion: if you recruit within your comfort zone, you will not innovate. Focus on DNA, not GPA!
Next: “Kill the red tape”
Damien Duhamel
Managing Partner
