Who

Your #1 Problem

What does a who problem look like?

Remember the I Love Lucy episode where Lucy and Ethel nd work at a candy factory? They re supposed to be wrapping chocolates, but they can t keep up with the pace. So instead of letting the candy pass them by, they start shoving it into their mouths, down their shirts, and anywhere else it will t. That s when a supervisor looks in and congratulates the new hires on the empty conveyor belt. Then she calls to someone in the next room, Speed it up! And with that the chaos really ensues.

You could spend countless hours trying to optimize the line, but that wouldn t get to the heart of the matter. The supervisor didn t have a conveyor problem. She had a Lucy problem.

The Lucy problem is a who problem, but chances are yours is neither as funny nor so far down the chain of command. As an engineering friend of ours often laments, Managing is easy, except for the people part!

In an October 2006 cover story, The Search for Talent, The Economist reported that nding the right people is the single biggest problem in business today.* We doubt that surprised most readers. The fact is, virtually every manager struggles to nd and hire the talent necessary to drive his or her business forward.

We ve all been there. We ve all heard the horror stories of the CEO who sank a multibillion-dollar public company, the district manager who allowed his region to fall behind competition, even the executive assistant who couldn t keep a schedule. Most of us have lived those stories and could add dozens more to the list.

Even we have made bad who decisions. A few years back, Geoff and his wife hired a nanny we ll call Tammy to look after their children. Unfortunately, Geoff had what his six-year-old calls a space-out moment and neglected to apply the method this book describes when he hired her.

Not many months later, Geoff was on the phone in his home of ce when he saw his two-year-old running naked down the

Geoff Smart is the chairman and CEO of ghSMART, the management assessment firm for CEOs and investors.

Randy Street is the president of ghSMART Executive Learning and a top-rated international public speaker.

Seventy percent of the game is finding the right people, putting them in the right position, listening to them, and alleviating what gets in their way. Who is a practical guide to making sure you get the right people to start with! Excellent advice and guide. Robert Gillette, president and CEO, Honeywell Aerospace

Geoff Smart and Randy Street have done an amazing job distilling the best advice from some of the world s most successful business leaders. Wayne Huizenga, founder, Blockbuster Video

A great read it really is all about finding, keeping, and motivating the team. John Malone, chairman, Liberty Media Corporation

The key point in this book is that those of us who run companies should include who decisions near the top of the list of strategic priorities. John Varley, group chief executive, Barclays

Who is the only book you need to read if you are serious about making smart hiring and promotion decisions. It is the most actionable book on middle- and upper-management hiring that I ve read after twenty years in HR. Ed Evans, executive vice president and chief personnel officer, Allied Waste Industries

I wish I had this book thirty years ago, at the beginning of my career! Jay Jordan, chairman and CEO, the Jordan Company

This book will save you and your company time and money. In business, what else is there? Roger Marino, co-founder, EMC Corporation

You ll find yourself nodding yes, saying That s right, and thinking, Oh, I ve been there, all the way through this grand slam of a book. Whether you re starting a company or running a part of a big one, the level of success you achieve is almost always a result of choosing the right people for the right jobs at the right time. It s all about the who! Aaron Kennedy, founder and chairman, Noodles & Company