Many companies spend a lot of time and money trying to recruit the best graduates and experienced staff. They invest in extensive training of their recruiters, design elaborate assessment processes and undertake extensive testing for ability and intelligence. But are they missing an important point? Increasingly neuroscience, the science of how the brain works, is showing what makes the most difference in success. A lot of this research has been aimed at how children succeed but the implications equally apply to adults in business.
There are two key themes that have common threads that I think we should take note of. The first is based on research, carried out back in the 1960s, which showed that children who could resist temptation went on to do far better, on a wide variety of factors including college and work success, than those who could not resist. They had higher incomes and more positive relationships. Indeed resisting the temptation to eat a marshmallow was a better predictor of success than the child’s IQ. You can see a really fascinating video of the experiment here.
The experimenters’ went on to analyse the tactics of the children who resisted. They have since used the learning to help people to strengthen their resistance to temptation. The implication for recruiters is that finding people who naturally have these skills, or have acquired them, is likely to mean they are more determined and likely to succeed at other work-related tasks.
The second piece of research looks at a slightly different angle but comes up with similar conclusions.
According to Carol Dweck, professor at Stanford University, individuals can be placed on a continuum according to what they believe about ability. At one end of the spectrum are those who believe that their ability, their talent or intellect, is a fixed trait and that their success is based on innate factors. These people are said to have a “fixed mindset”. At the other end of the spectrum are those who believe that their brain is like a muscle that can get stronger the more it’s used: the harder they try, the more successful they will be. These people are said to have a “growth mindset”.
Individuals may not necessarily be aware of their own mindset, but their mindset can still be discerned based on their behaviour. Fixed-mindset individuals dread failure because it is a negative statement about their basic abilities and therefore they avoid challenges, while growth mindset individuals don’t mind failure as much because they realise their performance can be improved. You can see Carol Dwerk talking about her work, and how she has taught people a growth mindset.
Why does this make a difference – you might be asking? Well, what type of mindset your recruits have is an indicator of how able they will be to deal with challenges and setbacks. People with a mindset more towards growth will be better able to deal with the type of issues most businesses encounter these days. They will not be afraid to take risks and try something new.
So should we test someone’s IQ? Or should we test their ability to defer satisfaction, try hard and bounce back from setbacks?