Steve Neiderhauser

Hold the Interview

Dan Heath and Chip Heath provide evidence in this Fast Company article that the interview process may not find the most qualified people for your company.

Instead, the past performance of a person is the best indicator of future performance. Asking a person to perform a job test and demonstrate his skills helps discover the true stars.

As a person interviewing for a job, you can't count on the company to always give you the opportunity to demonstrate your skills. So I suggest you do what many graphic artists do — Start to build a portfolio of your accomplishments. Lead the high-profile projects in your company and then create a visual of your success. This could be a graph of the costs you cut for the next 12 months or the revenue you generated over the next year. You could also draw a Venn diagram to show how the intersection of your skills creates a distinct advantage for your new employer.

And when you're in the interview, go into demo mode at your first opportunity. Treat the interview as a consulting opportunity and show the hiring company how new technologies or a new marketing plan will drive customers to its doorstep.

The Spaces Create the Attraction

It's been said, "The spaces between the notes create the music." The same can be said of great designs. In Matthew May’s wonderful book, In Pursuit of Elegance, he describes how spaces can be used in design and seduction.

"Seductive ideas rest on our ability to spark the kind of intrigue that will keep the imagination engaged."

Market research studies show that people like a product less when they know too much about it. This is labeled as the "Blissful Ignorance Effect." The research showed that consumers like a product better when there’s a moderate knowledge gap. The researchers identified three parts of seduction:

Arouse curiosity by demonstrating a moderate gap in the observer’s knowledge.

Provide enough information to make them want to resolve their curiosity.

Give them time to resolve their curiosity on their own.

Mr. May writes that the three parts of seduction all boils down to playing hard to get. So it’s interesting to notice that Elegant Design concepts can be applied to persuasion, design, and dating. That’s right, I did say dating. When a guy goes on that first date, he may have a tendency to talk to impress — Leaving nothing to the imagination, he describes his car, his job, and even his take-home pay.

Seduction by reduction can be a lot more effective. Describe a little about yourself and leave a lot to her imagination. Be mysterious. Let her fill in the spaces. Her imagination will attribute sterling qualities to you that you would have never thought of.

Of course, we’ve all had first dates with a potential employer, and our persuasion skills determined if we were able to attract that dream job.

Your persuasion skills are magnified when you arouse curiosity by demonstrating a gap in knowledge. Many managers resist great ideas even if the idea is a no brainer. So persuading people as though they were persuaded not, increases the odds of your idea being embraced.

This demo story shows how creating a space and an engaging experience, attracted managers to an idea they soon caressed and cared for as if it were their own.

Magnify the Map

From Annette Simmons' Territorial Games comes this inspiring story:

During World War II, destroyers had a maximum speed of 20 knots — except for one destroyer commanded by Admiral Arleigh Burke. Burke's destroyer sped 5 knots over the maximum limit. There was much speculation about how his engine room squeezed out 5 more knots.

While the topside crew could see planes fighting, hear artillery and experience the battle with all 5 senses, the engine room staff could see nothing and felt left out of the action. To remedy this, Admiral Burke wired the ship with a PA system that broadcast a blow-by-blow sports cast of everything that happened topside, complete with live sound effects. Now, requests for more power were met with added vigor, because the men understood why more speed was needed and felt part of the action.

In business, we can use the concept of making the map larger by including feedback that touches the five senses or magnifies the map. In software development, for example, you could magnify the project schedule by creating a milestone schedule, a schedule that shows only the key milestones.

I did this for one project and added a twist by printing the milestone schedule on extra large paper and taping the printout to a common wall. This made it a breeze for managers and developers to see at a glance the state of the project.

Tip: Use the milestone schedule for stakeholder meetings. Pay special attention to missed milestones, for those missed dates may mean the project is at risk.