Publishers Weekly
03/28/2022
Spotting talent is a talent itself, according to this thoughtful guide from economist Cowen (The Complacent Class) and entrepreneur Gross. Most businesses miss out on excellent would-be hires because of their “bureaucratic approach” to searching. To spot candidates with great potential, the authors recommend ditching interview questions that elicit canned answers, and opting instead for “larger picture” questions such as “Which of your beliefs are you least rational about?” There’s advice, as well, for interaction online now that the “talent search has become more global”: in Zoom interviews, leaders should remember that they’re “looking at distorted filters.” (Someone being too loud, for example, may just be unsure “how sound is reproduced in virtual meetings.”) On diversity and inclusion, Cowen and Gross write that minority candidates face extra challenges: women who are perceived as “aggressive,” for example, earn less than men who are (which, to remedy, the authors recommend giving the “non nice girl” extra consideration). Their point that one should get beyond one’s biases to spot talent is well made, and their unconventional suggestions actionable. Managers looking to shake up the interview process will find this worth a look. (May)
From the Publisher
Talent is what happens when two brilliant and profoundly iconoclastic minds apply their imagination to one of the hardest of all business problems: the search for good people. I loved it.”
—Malcolm Gladwell, bestselling author of The Bomber Mafia and The Tipping Point
"Talent is everything—whether in investing and building startups, or in other creative endeavors. Between product, market, and people, I've always bet on the last one as the biggest predictor of success. But while talent may be everywhere, it's unevenly distributed, and hard to 'find.' So how do we better discover, filter, and match the best talent with the best opportunities? This book shares how, based on both scientific research and the authors' own experiences. The future depends on this know-how."
—Marc Andreessen, co-founder of Netscape and Andreessen Horowitz
"The most important job of any leader is to find individuals with a 'creative spark,' and the potential to discover, invent and build the future. If you want to learn the art and science of spotting and empowering exceptional people, Talent is brimming with fresh insights and actionable advice."
—Eric Schmidt, co-founder of Schmidt Futures and former CEO of Google
"Two of the premier talent spotters working today, Cowen and Gross have written the definitive history of identifying talent. Anyone who is interested in innovation, entrepreneurship, or the roots of America's start-up economy must read this book."
—Christina Cacioppo, CEO and co-founder of Vanta
"I do not know of any skills more worth developing than the ability to find exceptional undeveloped talent. I have spent many years trying to get good at that, and I was still astonished by how much I learned reading this book."
—Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI
"Talent is a provocative tour of the considerations and assumptions that go into hiring."
—Time
"[A] thoughtful guide … Managers looking to shake up the interview process will find this worth a look."
—Publishers Weekly
"A useful and entertaining map for companies looking toward a creative future."
—Kirkus
"[A] compelling and thought-provoking guide to finding great people."
—Forbes
"Talent presents new insights into the process of hiring. … In an era of information overload, Cowen and Gross have provided a useful book to remind us that if talent is rare, as it surely is, the ability to spot it may be equally exceptional."
—City Journal
Kirkus Reviews
2022-01-18
Why recruiting creative people is the primary difference between a company that thrives and one that merely survives.
Cowen, a professor of economics and bestselling author of The Great Stagnation and other bestsellers, and Gross, a venture capitalist in the tech field, have been consulting on this issue for many years. Establishing the creativity of a job applicant is different than determining technical skills, and the authors provide advice about interview questions. They suggest focusing on what the person does in their nonwork time. Personality, they note, is revealed during weekends. Another good one: “What are the open tabs on your browser right now?” The aim is to assess the applicant’s thought processes and willingness to embrace new thinking. In fact, the interview should be more of a free-flowing discussion then a structured Q&A. In an intriguing chapter on the use of IQ and personality tests, the authors point out that such metrics can be helpful, but their limitations should be understood. Creativity appears in odd places, and Cowen and Gross advise employers to cast a net wide enough to catch candidates from historically marginalized communities. Some creative people can be cantankerous, even anti-social, so there might be a need to design work-from-home or similar arrangements. Fit the person to the job and sometimes the job to the person. Along the way, the authors offer an interesting exploration of how recruiting talented women differs from recruiting talented men—and how male interviewers should allow for their own biases. In the concluding chapters, the authors deal with the issues of retaining creative people. The key is to keep them stimulated and challenged, with rewards and recognition that are appropriate to each individual. All this takes effort and time for the employer, and recruiting and managing creative people can be more art than science. But in the end, as the authors show, the returns are often well worth the investment.
A useful and entertaining map for companies looking toward a creative future.
