When IBM opened a new service center here a few years ago, one of the things they talked about was hiring "T" people. They used "T" as a way to describe people that had breadth in a lot of general areas (like the bar across the T) to be trained with depth in just one narrow area. IBM felt that if someone had the general skills, they could be taught the intricate nuances of a particular aspect of IBM's business.
Without knowing that terminology, I have been hiring "T" people for years. The ability to be trained is far more important than coming in with a certain skill set. In fact, if your knowledge is too deep in one area, it can often be hard to admit that you need to learn new things about that part of the operation.
I think that the breadth of the "T" is developed in two areas that are often seen as the periphery in college: general education courses and out-of-class (co-curricular) experiences. There is so much focus on the major, but students who have enriching educational experiences outside the classroom gain valuable skills in teamwork, time management, advocacy, communication and a host of other areas. Through general education, students learn critical thinking, breadth of knowledge to create a historical context, writing skills and more.
When you are hiring, look for employees with that "T" characteristic. "T" could stand for terrific, but I think it mainly represents TEACHABLE. It's the wide base of learning that will serve you well when you need to teach them to go deep.
-- beth triplett
leadershipdots.blogspot.com
@leadershipdots
leadershipdots@gmail.com
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