Bozo Explosion

Hope you have enjoyed your Labor Day weekend. Today is a day for all of us to celebrate the workforce in America as well as honor America’s work movement and the power of collective actions by labors. Canada joins us in celebrating the laborers, which started in Oregon and became a federal holiday in 1894. The celebration of Labor Day today allows us the opportunity to discuss hiring.

When building a workforce, many of us believe there is a sense of urgency to make hiring decisions. Speed takes over, and filling in the vacant spots within the company becomes critical. The panic caused by the rush to judgment sway us into believing that it is more important to get workers up and running, than getting the right workers. Any acquisition means more people to lead, manage, and monitor. However, more never equates to efficient and effective production. Guy Kawasaki, formerly of Apple, Google, and the author of several books call this the “Bozo Explosion.”

The “Bozo Explosion” happens after an organization achieves success. Kawasaki claims in his own words that organizations suffer from the Bozo Explosion when:

Who wants to work for that kind of organization, team, or be apart of that culture?

The theory of "hire slow, fire fast" is the best practice method when putting together a team of people and helps prevent the Bozo Experiment from happening. It might seem insensitive to talk about hire and fire; however, having the wrong people in jobs can be upsetting to them as well as the company. Wrong hires work both ways.

Taking vast amounts of time in the hiring process allows the person doing the hiring to understand the job description, the expectations, and more importantly, how the development of the employee will occur. No one new is a "ready-made" professional. Always ask the question, "Once we hire this person, how will we make them better."

Stanford University has practiced the "hire slow, fire fast" method in their admissions for a long time. The University admissions office "vet" prospective students with layers of holistic review requirements. They know once admitted, they will work twice as hard to make sure that student completes his or her education. Stanford spends time on hiring and developing—they want their judgments to be proven correct—and therefore make it hard as hell to gain admittance. However, once it goes wrong, they react quickly.

Building a workforce takes time; therefore, spend more time in understanding what role each hire will play. Understand the job, understand how to develop the talent, and most of all, define the criteria each job requires.

Remember, less is often more. Simplicity is key!

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