Modern Wisdom: #482 - Tyler Cowen - The Secret To Finding Great Talent

On Hiring: look for these 4 qualities, the rest can be taught

1. Very deep love for learning: love learning and will do it for free, being intellectually curious


2. Incredible work ethic: can test for this


3. Investing is an EQ business not an IQ business, about mental flexibility: persistence and grit: beaten down and pucked in the face, seen hardship, come

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In hiring, value intelligence highly. Like focus, intelligence yields increasing returns.

Like focus, intelligence has a convex output curve — the smartest people can be an order of magnitude more productive than others who are only somewhat less smart. The key in hiring is to value potential skill rather than currently existing skill — and potent

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Conventional hiring processes are designed to recruit the most skilled people to fill a specific role at the right price. The experience can feel dehumanizing — it’s laden with unwritten rules, negotiation, posturing, and indirect communication (if you’re lucky) through recruiters.

The process, at its core, is a transaction of resources. It’s not fi... See more