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Wouldn't the practice of "A" players only hiring other "A" players imply a certain monoculture to your team? Do you hire junior "A" players who aren't really a

Wouldn't the practice of "A" players only hiring other "A" players imply a certain monoculture to your team? Do you hire junior "A" players who aren't really at the levels of skill or professionalism as their senior counterparts, but who have the potential to be and can still be given economically viable work to do? Do you call these people "lowercase 'a' players" or something? How do you count on your "A" players to recognize top talent in slightly different domains or areas of expertise? How do you account for people being creative and unique, like the person who has a background in something else but who adds value by being able to bridge cultures and bring new, unfamiliar ideas to your existing "A" players?

AndrewKemendo 10y ago
Wouldn't the practice of "A" players only hiring other "A" players imply a certain monoculture to your team? Yea, probably. If the goal is the dominate some sector, then having a mono-culture is incredibly valuable. Singular focus, shared task, shared vision is just staggering when it comes to effectiveness. All high functioning teams, from sports, to military and especially in business share this. And yes it looks like a cult from the outside - partly because it shares cult-like aspects. It's worth defining what "A" players are, however because I think while there is a pool of them, not all of them would work out for any team. I think people get the wrong idea that mono culture means no diversity. That's basically what your questions do. I think back to the spy world and while everyone has the idea that all of the best spies in the world look like James Bond, the reality of it is that the best spy teams in the world look - well like a cross section of the planet. Old people, young people, uber nerds, jocks, preppies etc...but they all have a critical piece of a singular mission of collecting some critical piece of information. Here is how I define an "A" team: A team that for a defined macro-goal, there is no better possible combination of persons on the planet to be filling the individuals roles, which accomplish micro-goals in furtherance of the macro-goal. You compose that as needed. It doesn't "look" any way - but there are common features among the individuals usually: Domain expertise, Flexibility, Leadership Ability (which includes followership), Emotional Maturity etc...

AndrewKemendo 10y ago

Wouldn't the practice of "A" players only hiring other "A" players imply a certain monoculture to your team? Yea, probably. If the goal is the dominate some sector, then having a mono-culture is incredibly valuable. Singular focus, shared task, shared vision is just staggering when it comes to effectiveness. All high functioning teams, from sports, to military and especially in business share this. And yes it looks like a cult from the outside - partly because it shares cult-like aspects. It's worth defining what "A" players are, however because I think while there is a pool of them, not all of them would work out for any team. I think people get the wrong idea that mono culture means no diversity. That's basically what your questions do. I think back to the spy world and while everyone has the idea that all of the best spies in the world look like James Bond, the reality of it is that the best spy teams in the world look - well like a cross section of the planet. Old people, young people, uber nerds, jocks, preppies etc...but they all have a critical piece of a singular mission of collecting some critical piece of information. Here is how I define an "A" team: A team that for a defined macro-goal, there is no better possible combination of persons on the planet to be filling the individuals roles, which accomplish micro-goals in furtherance of the macro-goal. You compose that as needed. It doesn't "look" any way - but there are common features among the individuals usually: Domain expertise, Flexibility, Leadership Ability (which includes followership), Emotional Maturity etc...