Humility: Degree, Gpa, Test Scores Are Worthless Criteria

[BCSpace]

Harvard business degree. Top-of-class ranking and a 4.0 GPA is what top companies like Google are looking for in new talent, right?

Not right.

According to Google, the Internet behemoth that snaps up other companies like families buy groceries, the top quality it looks for in job candidates is the ability to learn.

Likewise, the crucial ability to step up and lead when needed – or “just as critically, do you step back and stop leading, do you let someone else?” explains Google Senior Vice President of Operations Laszlo Bock.

And what quality allows for all of these critical attributes? Believe it or not, “humility.”

In a New York Times interview on “How to get a job at Google,” Bock said, shockingly, that “GPAs are worthless as a criteria for hiring, and test scores are worthless. … We found that they don’t predict anything.”

Even a college degree doesn’t make it, he said, noting that the “proportion of people without any college education at Google has increased over time.”

In some cases, a college degree may be a positive hindrance. As noted in another report, “Why Google doesn’t care about hiring top college graduates,” Bock cites a common error in “successful” people without intellectual humility:

    “They, instead, commit the fundamental attribution error, which is if something good happens, it’s because I’m a genius. If something bad happens, it’s because someone’s an idiot or I didn’t get the resources or the market moved. … What we’ve seen is that the people who are the most successful here, who we want to hire, will have a fierce position. They’ll argue like hell. They’ll be zealots about their point of view. But then you say, ‘here’s a new fact,’ and they’ll go, ‘Oh, well, that changes things; you’re right.’”

That the lack of a college degree is not necessarily a handicap is well known. Microsoft and Apple were started by a couple of college dropouts, Bill Gates and Steve Jobs. It was the same with Facebook and Dell Computer, founded by dropouts Mark Zuckerberg and Michael Dell. All are billionaires, and there are many others.

Google: GPAs, test scores 'worthless' Top candidates need 1 attribute, without which 'you are unable to learn'

 

Based on experience and observation, I generally agree.  My only question would be who defines the mind/course changing facts?  In an interview or test situation, one would have to be able to recognize when the company defined fact is being given.

 

What has this to do with the Church?  Intellectual honesty and intellectual humility play an important role in our debates obviously.  The problem being the same as above, who gets to define what a fact is as we often disagree even on those.

[thesometimesaint]

BCSpace:

 

"What has this to do with the Church?  Intellectual honesty and intellectual humility play an important role in our debates obviously.  The problem being the same as above, who gets to define what a fact is as we often disagree even on those".

 

I'm all for intellectual honesty and intellectual humility. However those has nothing to do with facts. IE; We are each entitled to our own opinions, that is a given. But we are not entitled to our own facts..

[BCSpace]

True enough.  But it still begs the question.  I am also reminded of the logical fallacy: Appeal to Authority.

[thesometimesaint]

True enough.  But it still begs the question.  I am also reminded of the logical fallacy: Appeal to Authority.

 

There is always that. I think we have an intellectual as well as moral obligation to figure out whom that authority is, and exactly what it is they are asking us to do.

[Paddy]

A rather large hinderence to the acceptance of the church (from a religious point of view) in both Europe and Australia is that they perceive Americans as emotionally dishonest. The lack of trust is completely apparent. Couple this with the cultural attribute that Americans are always right and it tends to have a negative effect in many countries outside America.

Sorry I don't mean to pick on Americans. I am just highlighting the perception of cultural differences. It is interesting that this study has picked up these issues for business. I think it also directly relates to the worldwide church.

[BCSpace]

I think one can always be right in a more subtle fashion.  Couching the truths in questions such as "do you think..." or "what do you think..."  Also qualify by saying "in my view..." or "in my opinion...".  Those tend to deflect the usually erroneous feeling that one is forcing one's opinions on another.

[Paddy]

I think one can always be right in a more subtle fashion. Couching the truths in questions such as "do you think..." or "what do you think..." Also qualify by saying "in my view..." or "in my opinion...". Those tend to deflect the usually erroneous feeling that one is forcing one's opinions on another.

I agree to a point but this just highlights my point. Using phrases like that simply add to the emotional dishonesty. It is completely manipulative if the person using those phrases does not actuall believe it. They are just empty words.

[BCSpace]

Perhaps.  But it's a two way street as far as trust and emotional honesty is concerned.  Europeans, for example, often come off as stand-offish or anti American as a matter of course.  Often they don't seem to have all the facts and are far too trusting of those from whom their facts come.

[The Nehor]

Perhaps.  But it's a two way street as far as trust and emotional honesty is concerned.  Europeans, for example, often come off as stand-offish or anti American as a matter of course.  Often they don't seem to have all the facts and are far too trusting of those from whom their facts come.

I see the exact opposite. Europeans tend to have much more nuanced views then Americans. They are also more likely to admit they are unsure about something. Many do see Americans as kind of crazy. I admit I sympathize with their perception.

[thesometimesaint]

The whole world is crazy except thee and me, and I wonder about thee.

[The Nehor]

The whole world is crazy except thee and me, and I wonder about thee.

I wonder more about me honestly.

[thesometimesaint]

I wonder more about me honestly.

 

One of the side "benefits" of being a Social Worker and having to take all those Abnormal Psychology classes we know that we are crazy and can tell you how/why.