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There are a lot of unfortunate laws and cultural practices that make it challenging for American companies that run at scale to surface merit in the hiring proc
by hagbardgroup 12y ago
There are a lot of unfortunate laws and cultural practices that make it challenging for American companies that run at scale to surface merit in the hiring process. There are also a lot of cultural factors that go back even to the 18th century that lead Americans (almost uniquely so in the Western countries) to discount the notion that skilled people really are much more capable than the drooling fellow that they picked up off the side of the street.
The temporary solution is to refuse to work for such companies and to compete with them until they go out of business, despite their capital advantages.
- eldavido 12y agoWould love more elaboration on this. What factors are you talking about, specifically?
- hagbardgroup 12y agoAlluding to Alexis de Tocqueville's 'Democracy in America.' Americans have a tendency to discount the notions of expertise and mastery, instead trusting in the 'common person' to make sensible decisions, and for there to be special virtue in commonness. Often times this is hypocritical. Warren Buffet has a folksy demeanor, but his IQ is off the charts and he reads more than several hundred pages per day of challenging material and makes numerous critical decisions besides. But he knows that affecting a down-home-average-man persona is the way to sway Americans who distrust eggheads who show off their expertise. The negative effect of this in the workplace is that American pretenses to egalitarianism result in a lack of respect for skill, acumen, and intelligence. It's not quite the 'tall poppy' effect you might see in other countries, but it can have some similar effects.