100-Year-Old Assessment Models
A Short Sharp Shock
Before I ‘get into it’ - my apologies for missing this week’s ‘long form’ People First newsletter. No excuse, but a very good reason that I will write about in next week’s edition.
Meanwhile, the ‘Short Sharp Shock’ continues. Just like life … right?
Fixing Wrongs
In last week’s issue, I referenced Geoffrey Moore’s book ‘The Infinite Staircase’ and commented that I disagreed with him regarding a statement he made regarding ‘values’. Happy to report that Geoffrey ‘put me right’ in the comment section … and we are all now back on the same page!
This Week’s Observation
… emerges from some work I am doing around ‘team friction’. More to come when we are ready, but for now, would be great to hear your thoughts.
If you are a LinkedIn member, you might want to comment there, or you can add your thoughts here.
My PoV
The next time HR or your line manager talks to you about the company's '360-degree assessment' model, stop for two minutes and think about what is being asked of you.
Quite apart from the mathematician in me screaming for a 4π Steradian model (We are after all people living in a three-dimensional world), there are so many more facets to people than these models allow for.
'Ten Off The Top'
Results are presented as absolute. They aren't, they are relative.
Models only measure what you think of, not what you need.
Complexity is reduced to abstract, over-simplistic homilies.
Assessments should be integrated into the business, but more often than not are just 'one more thing that needs to be done'.
Systems are gamed.
Results are ignored.
It's a 'We' world, not a 'Me' world.
Context is lost faster than the exercise can be completed.
Because you can measure something doesn’t mean you should.
Because you can't measure something, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try.
