Narrator: The story opens with Nate Thompson, CEO of Spectra Logic, trying to enjoy a rare family vacation. But his phone won't stop ringing. Back at the office, a firestorm of crises, sparked by the very people he hired, demands his constant attention. One sales VP he personally interviewed and hired had just been caught embezzling over ninety thousand dollars. This wasn't just a financial loss; it was a betrayal that stole his peace and his family's time. Thompson's experience is a dramatic illustration of a universal business problem: the immense and often hidden cost of a bad hire. In their book, Who: The A Method for Hiring, authors Geoff Smart and Randy Street argue that this is the single biggest problem in business today, and it's entirely preventable. They contend that the most important decisions are not about what to do—the strategy, the product, or the process—but about who you put in place to do it.

Narrator: The authors assert that most managers are failing at their most critical task. Citing management guru Peter Drucker, they estimate that the typical manager’s hiring success rate is a dismal 50 percent. This isn't just inefficient; it's catastrophically expensive. A single hiring mistake for an employee earning $100,000 a year can cost a company $1.5 million or more in salary, recruitment fees, severance, and lost productivity.

The core reason for this failure is what the authors call "voodoo hiring"—a collection of ineffective, gut-feel-based practices that managers rely on. These include asking trick questions, over-relying on resumes, and using unstructured interviews. The book uses the classic "I Love Lucy" candy factory episode as a perfect analogy. When Lucy and Ethel can't keep up with the conveyor belt, the supervisor's solution is to speed it up, assuming it's a process problem. But the real issue is a "who" problem: Lucy and Ethel are simply not the right people for the job. Similarly, managers often try to fix business issues with new strategies or processes, when the root cause is having the wrong people on the team. The first step to fixing this is to abandon these voodoo methods and adopt a structured, data-driven approach.

Narrator: The foundation of the A Method is the "Scorecard," a document that replaces the traditional, vague job description. Before even thinking about sourcing candidates, a manager must create a blueprint for success. The Scorecard has three essential components: a Mission, Outcomes, and Competencies.

The Mission is a concise summary of the job's core purpose, defining why the role exists. The book shares the story of a financial services company where a manager and his boss had completely different ideas about a new VP of strategic planning role. One saw a budget administrator, the other a visionary strategist. Without a clear mission, they were on the verge of hiring the wrong person for the wrong job.

Outcomes are the specific, measurable results the person in the role must achieve, such as "Grow revenue from $25 million to $50 million by the end of year three." This shifts the focus from activities to results.

Finally, Competencies define the behavioral and cultural fit. This is critical, as a mismatch in values can doom even the most talented individual. The authors tell the story of Noodles & Company, whose founder hired a CEO from a large corporation. While skilled, the new CEO’s bureaucratic style clashed with the company's fast-moving, aggressive culture, frustrating the team and hurting performance. The Scorecard forces managers to define what an A-Player looks like for a specific role, ensuring everyone is aligned before the search begins.

Narrator: The A Method argues that sourcing talent shouldn't be a reactive scramble when a position opens up. Instead, it must be a continuous, proactive process. The most effective way to source A-Players is through referrals from professional and personal networks. The book highlights the strategy of Patrick Ryan, founder of Aon Corporation. For decades, Ryan made it a habit to ask everyone he met, "Who are the most talented people you know that I should hire?" He nurtured these relationships for years, and this constant sourcing pipeline eventually produced Aon’s future CEO and general counsel.

Employee referrals are another powerful tool. At Middleby Corporation, CEO Selim Bassoul encouraged his employees to spot talent at customers, suppliers, or competitors. This strategy was so successful that 85 percent of their new hires came from internal referrals. The logic is simple: A-Players know other A-Players, and they understand the company's culture and needs better than anyone. The key is to build a system—whether a simple spreadsheet or a dedicated software—to track potential candidates and to consistently dedicate time every week to nurturing that network.

Narrator: Once a pool of candidates is sourced, the A Method employs a structured, four-interview process designed to systematically gather facts and weed out B and C players.

First is the Screening Interview, a short phone call to quickly assess a candidate’s career goals, strengths, and weaknesses, and to ask how their past bosses would rate their performance. The goal is to "hit the gong fast" on anyone who is clearly not a fit.

Second, and most critical, is the Who Interview. This is a chronological walk-through of a candidate's entire career. For each job they've held, the interviewer asks five core questions: What were you hired to do? What accomplishments are you most proud of? What were some low points? Who were the people you worked with? And why did you leave? This method is designed to reveal patterns of behavior over time. The book shares the dramatic story of a candidate for a CEO role who, during a Who Interview, revealed he was fired from a previous job after slapping his boss during a "philosophical disagreement," a $3 million mistake that cost him his stock options.

Third are Focused Interviews, where other team members interview the candidate, focusing on the specific Outcomes and Competencies from the Scorecard.

Finally, Reference Interviews are conducted with former bosses, peers, and subordinates to verify the information gathered. The authors recount the story of a Goldman Sachs executive who, against his better judgment, hired a CFO without conducting reference checks. The hire was a disaster, teaching him a permanent lesson about the necessity of this final step.

Narrator: Identifying an A-Player is only half the battle; the final step is to successfully sell them on accepting the offer. The authors introduce a framework called the "Five F's" to address the core concerns of any candidate: Fit, Family, Freedom, Fortune, and Fun.

Fit is about connecting the role to the candidate's long-term goals and the company's mission. Family addresses the impact of the job on the candidate's personal life. The book tells of how John Malone, chairman of Liberty Media, successfully recruited Greg Maffei by persistently addressing his family's reluctance to move from Seattle to Denver. Freedom is about the autonomy the candidate will have in the role. Fortune covers the financial compensation, which should be tied directly to the Scorecard's outcomes. And Fun relates to the company culture and the people they will be working with.

Selling isn't just a final step; it's a continuous process that occurs in waves throughout the hiring cycle. The most important element, however, is persistence. The book shares the story of Robert Hurst, who relentlessly pursued a top executive for a public insurance company, calling him every couple of weeks for months. His persistence paid off when the executive finally accepted the CEO role, leading to a fivefold increase in the company's stock price.

Narrator: The single most important takeaway from Who is that a company's success is a direct reflection of the people it employs. The process of hiring is not an administrative task to be delegated or rushed; it is the most critical strategic function of any leader. By shifting focus from the "what" of strategy to the "who" of talent, organizations can build teams that are not just competent, but truly exceptional.

The book leaves leaders with a powerful challenge: stop treating hiring as a reactive chore and start treating it as your greatest opportunity. The A Method provides a clear, practical, and proven roadmap to do just that. In the end, the message is simple but profound: you are who you hire.