120. The more patience, the faster the pace

Dear Erik

Perhaps Muslims are the predecessors of Western DADD’s because, if I am not mistaken, daughters of Muslims are (amongst many other things) not supposed to date. So beware: ‘the more you suppress something, the stronger it gets’.For selecting suitable candidates many options and techniques are available, and there are many scientifically based tests. The reason not everyone applies them is that many people do not know they exist, or they do not want to spend time and money on them. Looking at the method you are using it seems to me that you also have a somewhat scientific approach as you give figures. The good thing about these figures is that you get a reasonable objective standard (provided the same people give these figures based on the same, unchanging selection criteria). If you capture those numbers and compare them with periodic evaluations, you will get an insight into how the figures at intake relate to the performance at evaluation. In this way, you will gain (over time) predictivity with your figures at intake.

Flogging a dead horse does not make sense, as it is pointless to change people with exclamation marks into people with question marks. But the world is not black and white and all possible nuances occur. We all have question and exclamation marks. The times when we think we have all the answers due to our experience and successes are interspersed with situations we are once again uncertain about.

I remember a very good example of a colleague who initially could barely do his job at all. He was the manager in Hluk (a small village in the Czech Republic) of our customs-free warehouses for shoes we were selling as an importer and wholesaler in the Czech Republic and other countries in the region. He made a lot of mistakes, and was not very productive; it seemed as if he could not remember anything. I remember that I often wanted to bang my head against the wall out of sheer desperation that we could not do anything with him.

But actually he was a really nice guy. He tried the best he could. A heartwarming person who was so sweet and kind to everyone that I simply could not dismiss him. I decided to be very patient with him, to advise him and to assist him wherever possible and all the other colleagues helped (because everyone was fond of him).

And then a miracle happened. After six months, he had everything under control. All the logistics ran perfectly. And a few months later, he was managing the entire office and after that time nothing significantly went wrong anymore. He can be credited with much of our success in the Czech Republic.

This took place between 1991 and 1996 when I was setting up the shoe distribution in Slovakia and the Czech Republic. I have forgotten the name of that colleague but I will find out. I know some people who have not forgotten his name. He was a special person and I am wondering what became of him after I left to start Lugera. Have you ever had an employee like that?

Sincerely,
Gerard