More Than A Gut Feeling Video

Rating: ***** (3 out of 5)

Initial Thoughts
My first experience with the More Than a Gut Feeling Video was in a management development class during the early part of 2003. I had never interviewed a person in my life. I had never heard the words "Behavioral Interviewing" before. I simply wanted to soak in all the new ideas and information that I was encountering in my new role as a Human Resources Trainer. The end result was that I became a "Past Behavior Indicates Future Performance" missionary. And it's not a terrible thing either because our staffing department lived and breathed off of the principles in this film. They had to. When you're hiring a thousand new employees each season- you need to figure out some way to weed through the masses and find reliable workers.

It's also notable that after five years- I still remembered the story line. I didn't watch it again until 2008, but even with that gap, I could still remember these two people on a plane discussing a dilemma- the one is hiring a new person for his company because the last person in the job was a total flake. The conversation uses flashbacks of the guy's initial interview and his behaviors at work after he was hired. The other person on the plane basically proves to him that if he had used "behavioral interviewing" instead, he could have avoided hiring the dud and gotten a great employee instead. The story turns out a little cheesy in the end- the woman giving the advise is the candidate for the position that he's hiring for... but even so, it's memorable. And that's an important part of training videos- you want to leave a lasting impression, even at the cost of a little cheese here and there.

The Pros
This hiring / staffing training video is built on the premise that it's important to figure out the past behaviors of applicants through open ended questions in order to figure out how well they'll fit in their role. Open Ended Questions are important because it allows the applicant to use their own words instead of simply agreeing with a "yes/no" answer that they'd be a good candidate for the job.

In other words, if you ask something like this: "Have you had experience managing people?" you'll probably get something like this in response: "Yes, I managed 4 employees." A closed answer to a closed question. BUT, if you ask a question like this: "Tell me about a time when you had to adapt your management style to meet the needs of an employee..." You'll probably get a story about their past job that will reveal to you whether or not the applicant actually has management experience. You'll also be able see how flexible the person is and whether or not they think through an answer before giving it- or just jump in with a canned response.

Another great thought is about allowing silence. Too often, we think that silence is terrible. We want to jump in and save our applicants from silence. But, it's important to give applicants time to think about the questions we ask. Even if it means 30 seconds of silence (which can seem like an ETERNITY in an interview).

The Cons
My main problem with this show is three-fold:

First, it doesn't take into consideration that some people weave a good story. A good story teller that hits all the right points could still be a total dud employee. But because they know how to spin their past to make them sound like a superstar means that you'll be hiring them. It's hard to avoid this because you're asking THEM the question- not someone they know who might be more objective. If you were to call their old boss and a few of their personal references and ask them the same questions you might get a better idea of their actual past behavior... but in an interview, no one is going to tell you that they're a totally lazy, selfish, screwup that only cares about the paycheck.

Second, past behavior doesn't take into account that people change. If we were completely stock characters that had absolutely no variance in our behavior- then looking at past performance might be a really great idea. But ultimately, people change. They enter different life experiences that mold them into different people. They get married, get divorced, have kids, have family members die, fall in love, suffer humiliations, have money troubles, win the lottery... Sure, the habits that people are in may be a good indicator of how they'll do in the future- but we have to leave a little room for performance to change based on life experience. It's just that those things aren't legal to ask about in an interview...

Third, there really is something to be said for instincts. If my instincts tell me that I'd like to work with a person even if their history says otherwise, there could be something to it. Sometimes hiring the right person IS about what your gut feeling tells you about them. Maybe it's simply because I'm such a high iNtuitive (MBTI; ENFJ). But I defy any logic that tells me to completely ignore the little voice inside that screams yea or nay louder than the "facts."


Who Would Want It
More Than A Gut Feeling is a perfect hiring video for huge corporate businesses who treat their employees like a worker instead of like a person. If you're a huge conglomerate that needs to hire mass amounts of drones to run your company this is a perfect video for you.


The Bottom Line
More Than A Gut Feeling would a great hiring video for new managers who don't know how to interview. If used in conjunction with a good debrief and some role-playing, new interviewers will probably avoid some fatal mistakes that can plague a green hiring manager or staffing representative. However, I'm hoping that after a little experience, anyone using these techniques will balance them with a well tuned "gut" and keen instincts. Intuition can be just as valuable as objectivity and should not be discarded as this film seems to suggest.

Check it out here: More Than a Gut Feeling Video