Failure™ Magazine

Moodunnit?

Putting Sacred Cows out to pasture.

Written by Jason Zasky   Filed under Business

Another one of your Sacred Cows—“Only hire someone who has done the job before”—is one of the most ingrained behaviors among business people. Can you explain why the safest hire is often not the best hire?
That’s a chapter I sometimes have to re-read myself because it seems so right. If I have someone who has done the job before I’ll need to teach them less and they may already know where all the traps are. But that person may have accepted all the rules and cues and formulas that already exist. So you’re not getting any original thoughts; you’re getting answers they’ve heard before or delivered before.

The example in the book concerns Ben Sliney, a lawyer and air traffic controller who was hired as National Operations Manager of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). His first day at work was September 11, 2001. Imagine being ten minutes into your first day and 9/11 happens. Instinctively, he ordered all the planes in the air to land immediately. If he had that job before or had been at the FAA and was familiar with the bureaucracy he might have worried about getting approvals before he reacted.

At The Gate, do you find yourselves having to consciously fight to keep Sacred Cows at bay?
We’re always conscious of them. It’s almost like going to the gym or eating the right foods or anything else you have to be vigilant about. I will say that you never want to point your finger at someone’s chest and accuse them of following a Sacred Cow—telling them how horrible that is. Some amount of diplomacy and insight can get them to question whether they are doing the right thing or whether they are just doing what they have always done before.

What advice do you have for readers who want to eliminate Sacred Cows but are struggling to do so?
First, list the ones you believe you’re following. If you can identify five or ten Sacred Cows that are somehow limiting your ability to be successful, then you can re-assess things as you see yourself slipping into them.

Take the example of hiring someone who has done the job before. If you feel the people who work for you lack imagination and you have the opportunity to hire someone new then that would be a Sacred Cow I’d be very conscious of.

Do you feel like you’ve effectively killed off a few Sacred Cows?
I’d like to think so. But I wouldn’t be so arrogant to say we did. I think we pointed them out and then it’s up to the reader. We’re hopeful that the people who read our book will be willing to kill a few of them in their own business.

http://www.deathtoallsacredcows.com

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