Jobseekers: Test And Learn To Be A Game Changer
David Shindler
Writer. Mainly. Coach. Often. Volunteer. Sometimes. Learning to Leap. Always.
Are you an innovator or an operator?
As the workplace changes, savvy employers are looking at attracting new recruits with fresh ideas and tapping into the intrapreneurial talent within existing employees. From an employment angle, candidates can stand out by emphasising how they will contribute to innovation in their offering. Employees can stay agile and employable by continuously developing an innovation mindset and skills.?
I was talking about innovation with the CEO of a highly successful global manufacturing company recently. He explained to me how innovation worked in his context. His success criteria is simple - will the?customer buy the product?
Multi-site global manufacturing depends on local people delivering in a local context aligned with corporate systems and processes. Cultural fits. That means recruiting the right people for the right jobs. The CEO looks for two types of employee - innovators and operators. Different beasts. Both need the right attitude and aptitude - being bright doesn't mean brains, it's whether they get it or not.?
The company produces a niche product that meets their customers' needs. They scan their business environment continuously to spot future needs. Once identified, they work with a partner who shares the development risk by investing time and money. It enables them to test and trial the new product. There is a lesson here for jobseekers. ?
Test and learn
Other successful entrepreneurs like Richard Branson are fond of saying that to succeed you have to learn to fail.
That needs a bit of translation if you're job searching. ?I've met people who fired off their CV randomly or signed up to recruitment agencies expecting them to find them a job without testing and learning. Yes, it takes time and effort to research companies you might want to work in, to tailor your CV for the job you're applying for, to invest in self-reflection on your strengths, to get feedback on how others see you, to hone how you present yourself at your best and to practise getting across how your unique talents will make a difference to that employer.?
You may get rejected many times when applying for jobs. An innovation mindset sees that as an essential process of testing yourself in the jobs market and learning from the experience until you succeed. Resilience is a by-product.
Game changers
There is a paradox for employers when recruiting. They want people who fit the culture, yet they want the mavericks too - the people who can change the game. Psychologist, Adrian Furnham, believes the key to finding game changers lies in identifying their motivation
What really matters is having the desire to do something that really matters... hungry for the product, the outcome, the vision.
Adrian Furnham
Furnham says game changers have an unusual combination of characteristics - "hard-working, productive obsessionality mixed with vision". How dogged are you in pursuing a dream?
Professor Adam Grant talks in a similar vein about 'Originals' in his new book of the same name - agents of profound change, the people who shake things up and convince other people to see the world differently. Check out his fun quiz.?
Breakthrough thinking and action can happen at any level. We all see the world differently and that might just be your competitive advantage at the next job interview. After all, there is only one success criteria - will the employer buy you?
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David (@David_Shindler) is an independent coach, blogger and speaker, associate with several consultancies, founder of The Employability Hub (free resources for students and graduates), author of Learning to Leap: a guide to being more employable, Digital Bad Hair Days and co-author with Mark Babbitt of 21 Century Internships. His commitment and energy is in promoting lifelong personal and professional development and in tackling youth unemployment. He works with young people and professionals in education and business.
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