Hiring scorecard

Applies to any hire where the cost of being wrong is high. Produces a scorecard, an interview kit, a reference plan, and a decision package.

The doctrine: hire against outcomes, then test the mindset behind them. A scorecard built from "strategic, strong communicator" produces a hire nobody can evaluate. A scorecard built from results the role must produce in 12 months produces a hire everyone can. Then test what interviews usually miss: mindset, learning speed, and how the candidate handles failure. Hire the trajectory, not the snapshot.

The sequence

1. Classify the door. Type 1, one-way door: co-founder, C-suite, first leader of a function, large equity grants. Take twice as long and go to full depth. Type 2, two-way door: fractional, advisor, IC below manager. Decide faster and set an early checkpoint. Write the class and the reason before anything else.
2. Write the outcomes. 5 to 8 results the role must produce in 12 months. Each is specific, measurable, dated, and weighted. Weights sum to 100. Read references/outcome-scorecard.md.
3. Derive competencies from the outcomes. 2 to 4 per outcome, consolidated and weighted. Mark each critical (absence kills the hire) or supporting (coachable). Never start here.
4. Set deal-breakers and behaviors. Deal-breakers are testable conditions checked before interviews start. Culture fit is 4 to 6 observable behaviors, never a personality.
5. Build the interview loop. Behavioral questions only, at least 2 per critical competency, each round owning specific competencies. Every candidate gets the failure question: what they do with failure, not whether they have failed. Senior hires get the force-multiplier questions. Interviewers score alone, in writing, before any debrief. Read references/interview-kit.md.
6. Run the live exercise. A realistic exercise tied to a critical outcome. Give two or three points of specific feedback, invite questions, and have the candidate repeat it immediately. Score the delta between attempts, not just the first one. Read references/beyond-the-interview.md.
7. Test the mindset. Ask two questions in order: "Project forward 18 to 24 months. What is going to be different in your life?" then "What are you doing today to achieve that goal?" The first reveals horizon, intrinsic motivation, and willingness to share something real. The second reveals whether the goal is a wish or a commitment. Read references/beyond-the-interview.md.
8. Run references. Type 1: at least 3, one of them off-list. Listen for examples, pauses, and qualifications. Read references/decision-package.md.
9. Write the decision package. Score each candidate against the scorecard, not against each other. Name the evidence gaps. Answer the ten-question operating rule, ending with: if this hire fails in twelve months, what signal will I wish I had taken seriously? Log the decision, any override, and a checkpoint date. Read references/decision-package.md.
10. Audit at the checkpoint. Day 30 for Type 2, day 90 for Type 1. Return to the logged signals and record what came true.

What good looks like

• The expert's tell: weighted outcomes exist before the first conversation, and the hiring manager can say which two carry the most weight.
• The common mistake: impressions substitute for evidence. Polish, likability, confidence, or a trusted referral wins the room, and the miss shows up two quarters later.
• The learning tell: a weak second attempt after clear feedback. The gap is not knowledge.
• The mindset tell: a big goal with nothing started. Ambition without follow-through in their own life predicts the same at work.
• How to know it worked: independent written scores, at least one honestly named evidence gap, and a checkpoint audit that confirms the right signals were watched.
• Four real field cases, two hires that worked and two that failed: references/worked-examples.md. Score the kit with references/kit-rubric.md. Type 1 ships at 90 or above with every criterion at 9 or above.

Rules

• MUST classify Type 1 or Type 2, with a reason, before writing outcomes.
• MUST write 5 to 8 weighted outcomes summing to 100 before deriving competencies.
• MUST use behavioral questions only, including the failure question; NEVER hypothetical ones.
• MUST run the live exercise with feedback and a second attempt for Type 1 hires, and score the delta.
• MUST ask both mindset questions identically, and score the pattern, NEVER the content of a personal goal or any protected topic.
• MUST collect independent written scores before the debrief.
• MUST run 3 or more references for Type 1 hires, one off-list.
• NEVER let a referral, sponsor, or likability lower the evidence standard.
• MUST log the decision, the "would change my mind" signals, any authority override, and no-hires with conditions to reconsider.