3 Ideas in 2 Minutes on Job Interviews
The Knife Theory of Hiring, the C.R.A.P. Framework & the Secret of Zen School
I. The Knife Theory of Hiring
Is there a way to beat the Peter Principle, the idea that in a company, everyone is promoted to the level of their incompetence? With his Knife Theory of Hiring, writer David Perell explains the importance of hiring different people as a company grows:
When you first start a company, you need Swiss Army Knife people who can do a little bit of everything.
Once your company gets big, you need a bunch of kitchen knife people who do one thing very, very well.
II. The C.R.A.P. Framework
The C.R.A.P. Framework is a scientific approach to dealing with workplace bullshit. In their 2020 paper Confronting Indifference Toward Truth: Dealing With Workplace Bullshit, Ian P. McCarthy et al. explain this phenomenon as follows:
Workplace bullshit comes into existence when one or more members of an organization are intent on pursuing an underlying agenda of their own, such as protecting themselves against criticism or perceived threats, or attempting to benefit themselves in the pursuit of opportunities. That agenda may be exclusively self-serving, or it may be intended to serve the organization; it can have selfish or selfless motives. The bullshitter makes a decision to further that agenda through communicative acts and decides on a message and a medium that will help them to achieve that agenda.
The C.R.A.P. Framework to combat workplace bullshit itself comes in four stages:
Comprehend: Understand what BS is and isn’t
Recognise: Learn how to notice when it is used knowingly or unknowingly
Act: Either exit the situation entirely, engage with the bullshitter, accept the BS out of loyalty, or disregard the nonsense
Prevent: Exhibit and cultivate behaviours that don’t leave much room for BS, such as critical thinking
This is probably completely unnecessary at the place where you apply for work. But just in case, here’s a useful chart in case you ever need it.
III. The Secret of Zen School
If only there was a way to get around this whole work thing. If becoming a Zen Buddhist seems like a sensible option, here’s English philosopher Alan Watts on the secret behind admission to Zen training:
If you go to a Zen teacher and you approach him in the traditional way, the first thing he will do is to say: “I haven’t anything to teach. Go away!”
“Well,” you say, “what are these people doing around here? Aren’t they your students?”
“They’re working with me, but unfortunately, we are very poor these days, we don’t have enough rice to go around to make ends meet.”
So you have to insist to be taken in. Every postulant for Zen training assumes immediately that the teacher has given him the brush off in order to test his sincerity. In other words: “If you really want this thing, you gotta work for it.”
That isn’t the real point. The point is that you got to make such a fuss to get in that you cannot withdraw gracefully after having made such a fuss to get in. Because you put yourself on the spot. And you define yourself as somebody needing help or as somebody with a problem who needs a master in order to be helped out of the problem.
—Alan Watts
🐘
Have a great week,
Chris
themindcollection.com
P.S.: Check out my latest long-form post on The Feynman Technique 2.0: How to Take Your Learning to the Next Level