Talent-Ridden (2)

Pivotal jobs according to Boudreau (see previous blog entry) are those in which value and contribution are most elastic to performance and talent (investing talent in them moves the strategic needle significantly more than investing it in others). Let us consider Boudreau's own example of Disneyland ("the happiest place on earth"). When you think of a role important to the parks' success you might be tempted to consider Mickey Mouse. He waves at children, does branded funky moves. But would this be a job in which investing in talent would yield great value?

Short answer is: not anymore. Over time the Mickey Mouse position has been engineered and scripted to the point that an average Mickey and a great Mickey look identical.

Now consider park sweepers. They are all over the park and tend to be the ones visitors stop to ask for the location of toilets or of the closest restaurants or for help in resolving an issue. When Disney studied feedback from customers, they found a direct connection between the skills of park sweepers and the customers' park experience.

Boudreau represents this insight as in the chart below where the sweeper job is the blue line, Mickey is the red. Once the acting Mickey reaches the standard, further improvements in performance don't deliver additional value. For the sweeper, every increase in talent delivers an increase in value: and this is what makes this job a pivotal one.



The first actor to get into a Mickey costume to entertain probably had fantastic skill and acting talent (it surely was a pivotal role for the park back then). The company however had the ability to pin down and document Mickey's winning moves and free the job from depending on talented actors.

Nowadays doing this has become more difficult for companies. On the one hand organisations and jobs have become more complex; on the other hand, the pace of change has significantly increased. Now, would this be cause and effect (i.e. acceleration of change and focus on talent)?

The Web was invented in 1989, grew by 100% per year during the 90s  and had a brief period of explosive growth in 1996 and 1997. Consecuence or coincidence the term War for Talent was coined in 1997. Until HR catches up, talent rules.