Topgrading

A recent book, Hard Facts: Dangerous Half-Truths & Total Nonsense, included Topgrading. What an honor! Ooops — it’s a critical review! Oh, no, after three decades of helping companies improve from 25% to 90% high performers hired, the “fact” is — Topgrading is all “BS?” (my initials, get it?)

The book says, p. 89, “Smart’s book Topgrading emphasizes the “fact” … that A players hire A players … The War for Talent makes the same point … We call it the Rule of Crappy People: Bad mangers managers hire very, very bad employees, because they are threatened by anyone who is anywhere near as good as they are.”

“Duh,” you say! Obviously there are exceptions, which I have pointed out in various writings, but does anyone want to seriously challenge something as obvious as A players trying to hire A players? Maybe college profs think, “Gee, our C player dean hired A player me!”

Actually, the authors go on to cite research with college kids that really does support the Rule of Crappy People — conscientious college students tend to hand hang out with college students, and a guy I was in my Ph.D. program with (Frank Schmidt) did study showing really smart people tend to hang out with really smart people — “certainly part of (Smart’s) A player profile.”

Maybe I’m being defensive, but get a life, academics! In the Epilogs of my books I beg the scientific community to research important topics, such as how Topgraders double and triple their hiring success. I wouldn’t waste any time trying to scientifically “prove” that A players tend to favor A players, and C players tend to favor C players!