From the Ask Tom mailbag –

Question:
I just finished your TimeSpan101 online course and have a question.
When interviewing, is it possible to assess potential capability? I imagine that one can listen if applied capability is at current role’s stratum or above? Although this technique doesn’t allow for one to assess an individual’s ability to learn.

Response:
You managed to jam about three questions into one. First is the issue of capability assessment and its methodology. How does one assess capability? The method is somewhat counterintuitive, but extremely reliable. The counterintuitive part is to NOT focus on the individual. Attempting to assess a candidate’s capability is most often outside the interviewer’s skillset. I will almost guarantee an 50 percent failure rate, which means you could flip a coin and do just as well.

The focus, instead, should be on the work. With some familiarity with timespan, it is relatively easy to calibrate the level of work in the role. Examine the function of the role, tools in the role and problem solving in the role. Those three clues will lead you to a very accurate understanding of the level of work required in the role. In that role, what is the work?

Example – if the role is an accounting manager, the function will be to create and maintain an effective accounting system. The tools will be flowcharts, sequence and planning. Problem solving will be root cause analysis. This all points to S-III level of work.

Now, describe the work, define the work. If the candidate is any good at the work, then it follows they likely possess S-III capability.

The next part of your question parses the difference between current capability and potential capability. I will never make a hiring, or promotion decision based on anything other than evidence. No hopes, no wishes, no crossing of fingers. But potential hasn’t happened, so how can we be sure? If a person has potential, there is usually evidence of that potential. Two things I look at are error rate and deadline. If a candidate has a low error rate in current tasks and always meets their deadlines, I have evidence of potential. If a candidate has a high error rate and never meets deadlines, not so much.

The third part of your question specifically asks about learning. Behavioral interviewing requires that we look at past behavior. No future based questions, no hypothetical questions. Simply ask about the past.

• Tell me about a project where, in your role, you were required to learn a new skill?
• What was the project?
• What was the purpose of the project?
• What was your role on the project?
• What was the new skill?
• What was the degree of difficulty in learning that skill?
• What technical knowledge, what did you need to know about the skill, in terms of its sequence, outputs and constraints?
• How long did it take you to master what you needed to know?
• How did you apply your knowledge to the skill in terms of practice?
• What was your frequency of practice? depth of practice? accuracy of practice?
• How long did it take to master the skill in terms of both technical knowledge and practiced performance?