Erdos Had The Number First

I had a disasterous interview the other day. it’s hard not to take rejection personally when, you know, you’ve been rejected.

But I need to be an adult about it, since not being an adult put me into the worst job I ever had.

but thats another story.

first, I’d like to tell you that in the one hour I was there I got a feel for exactly what problems they were facing. I also knew that the main guy in the interview was a problem. In the words of my HR prof, he didn’t get it.

but here’s the thing, this guy isn’t a problem for them, no matter what I think. He’s a problem for me, and that is the important thing. He’s not a problem for them for a couple of reasons, not the least of which is that he’s been promoted and he is the guy who holds things together. He’s the wizard there.

In every company there are the people who make the company work, no matter what (well, in sucessful companies, at least). He’s one of them.

It ties into my theory of minimum effort. The theory goes that all companies degrade into a state where everyone is doing the minum effort. Minimum is defined by the culture the organization has. It is at that equilibrium point that the organization is optimized as a system. the key goal for managers is to insure that minimum effort is high enough and, like predators, weed out the weak and sick.

But thats, also, another story. There were three people in the interview, and the one guy really didn’t care because I didn’t have any skills that mattered to him. The woman didn’t care either, and the one guy who did care only cared because he didn’t want to hire me. I think I’m pretty good at spotting that, especially because this guy asked all the same questions I did and generally had the same interviewing style. If you’ve ever interviewed with me I just want to say I’m sorry now, and that I have learned a harsh lesson.

the lesson is cast in especially sharp reliefe by my MBA. I am a little more than half done with my MBA, and I’ve learned a great deal already. it’s just too bad I didn’t learn it sooner.