ANÁLISIS Y TABULACIÓN DE LAS ENCUESTAS

Shorts Characteristics

When you compare and contrast the positive and negative Brown Shorts lists shown earlier, it’s obvious that high performers and low performers at Company X respond very differently when faced with similar situations. When faced with an opportunity for recognition, the high performers demure while low performers step on anyone in order to get that notice or reward. When things go wrong, high performers aren’t interested in finding a source of blame; they stay focused on finding a solution. Low performers, in contrast, are quick to blame others and eager to escape accountability. And when high performers in this unique culture are asked to do something they don’t know how to do, they actively acquire

new skills. Low performers, on the other hand, immediately throw up their hands, resist, and complain.

We call these “Differential Situations” because they’re the moments when the differences between high and low performers are most starkly in contrast. And this contrast is what you want, because situations in which high and low performers respond similarly are of no use in determining attitude. It may be that both your high and low performers like maple trees, or read John Grisham novels, or say that they

“care too much” when asked about their biggest weakness.

High and low performers may answer lots of traditional

interview questions the same way. Brainteaser questions—why are manhole covers round or how many gas stations are in Los Angeles—are notoriously bad at differentiating high and low performers because many smart people ace brainteasers but still have terrible attitudes. These aren’t the kinds of situations we’re looking for here. We want only Differential Situations.

The ultimate test of a great interview question is the extent to which it differentiates between high and low performers. So if the situation you’re asking about doesn’t elicit different

responses from high and low performers, ditch that question—

it’s a waste of your time. When Leadership IQ consults with organizations to design their interview questions, we

sometimes find that some executive is fixated on sticking with his or her pet question. In these cases, we conducted a study of the organization’s interviews to see whether that question is actually generating differentiated responses from high and low performers. Most people won’t take medicine that hasn’t been scientifically shown to be beneficial. However, when it comes to interview questions, most companies are asking away without any validation whatsoever.

Getting back to Company X, our Brown Shorts Discovery tells us that high and low performers respond differently when facing problems, receiving credit, responding to significant changes in the workplace, working cross-functionally, and learning new skills. High and low performers also respond differently when they encounter failure; for example, how they

respond to a situation where they try to fix or improve something and they just can’t get their solution to work.

How can I be so sure that high and low performers will exhibit different behaviors in these situations? First, during the Brown Shorts Discovery I would have observed the behaviors directly, from the interviews, and from survey responses. Second, during the course of those interviews and surveys I ask, “What are some situations in which these attitudes manifest

themselves?” You can see how this works by using the Brown Shorts characteristics Company X lists to reflect the attitudes of high and low performers when those employees don’t know how to do something.

High performers: They’re self-directed learners, and if they don’t know how to do something, they actively find the information or other resources they need.

Low performers: They have a negative disposition, and when faced with a new situation, they regularly respond with reasons why something will not work rather than try to figure out ways to achieve success.

Given these descriptions, what are some likely scenarios where these high performers will really show off their great attitudes?

That is, in what situations will they roll up their sleeves and actively find information? I imagine we’d see these qualities when they’re given an assignment they don’t know how to do, when they’re asked to do something outside their job

description, when they have to unexpectedly fill in for

somebody else, or when they encounter a customer problem they’ve never seen before.

And when will low performers really show off their bad attitudes? Well, probably in any of the situations I just mentioned. Any time low performers are asked to change a procedure, learn a new technology, or solve a problem that really isn’t within their official responsibilities, they will dig in their heels and explain why it can’t be done. As I noted a few paragraphs ago, you will see both high and low performer

attitudes on display when these folks face failure, such as when they try to fix or improve something and they just can’t get their solution to work.

Now that we’ve got some Differential Situations to work with, we need to choose one of them and build a Brown Shorts question around it. I’m personally partial to the situation where people have faced failure, but when you create these questions in your organization, you should pick the situations that your employees face most frequently.

Brown Shorts Question Step 3: Begin the