When thinking about the technology organization of tomorrow, talent inevitably becomes a point of discussion. What specific qualities technology leaders should look for in new team members? I asked a successful CIO this very question recently and he told me he is always on the lookout for “Fire and Forget” people. I asked him what that meant, and he made an analogy to a missile. He wanted people he could fire at a problem and forget about it.
During the conversation, we expanded on the “Fire and Forget” notion and several attributes applied to the types of people we all look for when looking for exceptional talent. Most of these apply to almost all knowledge hire working.
- The kind of person that does not need step by step directions on how to solve a problem
- The kind of person that creatively thinks of ways to remove roadblocks rather than merely reporting why something cannot be done
- The kind of person that provides periodic updates on status, not an hour and a half daily on the details (normally about why something cannot be done! – see number 2)
- The kind of person that leverages all of the resources at their disposal
- The kind of person you can trust to get the job done
