You Have a People Problem
After he read about the fire at the fire station, our managing director Mark Brooks shot me a note saying that the idea that context matters reminded him of this piece that he read recently about how there is no such thing as an “A-player.” Citing Ron Johnson’s successful stint at Apple followed by his disastrous one leading JCPenney as well as other examples, it argues that “an A-player for one organization is not always an A-player for another.” That’s because “transferring what you know from one context to another is difficult and unreliable.”
And I’ll concede that point. After all, history is littered with examples of people who have both succeeded and failed. So if the definition of an “A-player” is someone who always succeeds at everything, yes, there is no such thing.
But if an A-player simply refers to someone with high ability who is crushing it in his or her role, it’s helpful to know what to call that. Further, I think it ignores reality to not admit that there are some people we’d all recommend ahead of others absent any context at all.
See, years ago I was part of a small group that met with former GE CEO and erstwhile management guru Jack Welch. We were each supposed to bring with us an organizational challenge we were facing and Jack was going to help us figure it out. One of those came from a woman in my cohort who said that her business was opening a new geographic market, but wasn’t getting the anticipated traction or momentum.
“Let’s start with the basics,” Jack said. “Is the person in charge of opening that market for you an A-player?”
The woman hesitated before starting to say yes. But Jack cut her off.
“Clearly not if you have to think about it. You have a B-player or worse leading and that's why you can’t get traction or momentum. You have a people problem. If you want this new market to succeed, solve that if you can and care to.” Then he moved on to the next organizational challenge.
After the meeting I asked the woman if she thought it was true she had a B- instead of an A-player filling that role, and she said it probably was. The person was qualified, she insisted, and long-tenured, but probably fell short of being a true A, which is why she had hesitated.
When it comes to roles and responsibilities, leaving aside all of the jargon and value judgments, it boils down to two things: ability and fit. And people who excel at something or are likely to are typically not only checking both boxes, but benefiting from the two reinforcing one another. As for whether that makes anyone inherently an A-player or not, or if their success is fostered by their context, that’s a complicated and nuanced discussion. What is less complicated is recognizing who is crushing it.
Because if someone is crushing it, you shouldn’t have to think about it.
– Tim
