I’ve probably mentioned this before but it is worth mentioning again: I really do love experiencing an organization from HR’s point of view. In many cases, I am one of the first people a prospective employee meets. When they get hired, I see them through their first few days. As time goes on, I am setting up training and development for them. I see pay raises, promotions, performance reviews and corrective action. On their last day, they’ll probably see me and we’ll talk about your experience here.
No, they probably don’t know me terribly well. They might not consider me a friend. That’s fine with me though. But it is rewarding to see somebody that you saw some spark in turn out to be a great employee. It is quite another feeling when one of your candidates ends up as an unmitigated disaster.
One of my favorite movies is Snatch and one of the key scenes is an illegal boxing match where Mickey (Brad Pitt) is supposed to go down in the round and it looks like he is going to do it after getting knocked to the mat. As he is almost being tapped out, he jumps up and pulls his fist back to deliver the knockout blow. Then the action freezes. At that moment, you know everything will change for the characters in the movie. Mickey isn’t going down and it is going to be absolute hell for everyone.
That freeze frame is what How To Self-Destruct by Jason Seiden reminds me of: people who have come into our organization with such promise only to turn that around and self-destruct in a matter of days (or hours, or minutes). If you follow the instructions in this book, you are guaranteed to go down the path that has frustrated me for the past five years: boundless potential turned into an unhirable mess. It isn’t pretty.
On the other hand, if you are looking to completely avoid this fate, it may be a worthwhile book to pick up and learn from. Sometimes we can learn from ways people screw up and this book is stuffed full of that. I am hesitant to mention that there might even be some useful lessons tucked into the back of every chapter. The reason for my hesitation is that it gives seriously useful advice in an otherwise hilarious look at bombing at work.
This is the most entertaining book I’ve read in the career advice sector. Period. Most of these books are really crappy, filled with old, recycled advice or new advice that is just plain wrong. This book is filled with neither and that is extremely impressive.
I would encourage you to check out Jason’s website (where he is in the process of releasing chapters in his book so you can see what I mean) or follow Jason on Twitter if you are so inclined.
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Thanks for the tremendous post. You’ve got some impressive ideas and I always find the HR world to be rather interesting.
It’s funny what a cubicle will do to some people.
Thanks Chucky
Also, thanks for the add on Twitter!