A-Plus Work Culture
Build conditions that help capable people learn and consistently produce exceptional work.
- Difficulty
- Advanced
- Time to result
- ~ongoing to results
- Steps
- 5
- Confidence
- 98%
Stop treating the recruitment of already proven A-plus employees as the only route to an exceptional team. The pool of such candidates is limited, every competing company wants them, and interviews are imperfect predictors of performance. Instead, hire capable people with strong learning potential and create conditions in which they can produce A-plus work and become stronger performers. Define quality clearly, provide coaching, feedback, useful challenges, and access to learning, and make development part of the team’s operating culture. This approach scales the supply of excellence internally rather than leaving team quality dependent on winning an unrealistic external competition for flawless candidates.
Origin
Kieran Flanagan offered this as a hiring hot take for a new marketing leader inheriting and expanding Loyalty Lion’s team. Extracted from Marketing Against The Grain.
Core principles
- 01The supply of proven A-plus candidates is limited.
- 02Interview processes cannot perfectly identify future performance.
- 03A scalable team develops people rather than only competing for finished stars.
- 04Learning systems and working conditions determine the quality people can produce.
How to run it
- 1
Broaden the talent lens
Assess candidates for capability, curiosity, judgment, and learning speed rather than only for an already perfect track record.
Pro tip Ask for examples of rapid improvement after difficult feedback.
Watch out Potential should not replace necessary baseline competence.
- 2
Define excellent work
Describe observable standards for A-plus output in each role and connect them to business outcomes.
Pro tip Use examples and review criteria rather than adjectives.
Watch out People cannot reliably achieve a standard that remains implicit.
- 3
Create learning mechanisms
Build coaching, feedback, practice, documentation, and knowledge-sharing into regular work.
Pro tip Tie learning to live problems rather than detached training alone.
Watch out Occasional courses do not constitute a learning culture.
- 4
Assign growth opportunities
Give people progressively harder work with support proportionate to the risk.
Pro tip Pair stretch assignments with frequent feedback.
Watch out Unsupported overload is not development.
- 5
Track development
Review whether work quality, judgment, and independence improve over time, then adapt the environment accordingly.
Pro tip Celebrate visible improvement as well as exceptional final results.
Watch out Do not retain persistent underperformance solely in the name of development.
In the wild
A marketer has strong analytical judgment and learning speed but has never led a major acquisition channel. The company defines the expected operating standard, pairs the marketer with an experienced coach, gives them a bounded channel portfolio, and reviews experiments weekly.
→ The employee grows into a high-performing channel leader without the company needing to win a bidding war for a finished star.
Common mistakes
Hiring for pedigree alone
Prestigious employers and polished interviews do not guarantee that someone will perform in the company’s actual environment.
Calling neglect empowerment
People need standards, feedback, and support; merely leaving them alone does not create A-plus work.
Is it for you?
Best for
Leaders building teams in competitive talent markets where sustained learning matters.
Not ideal for
Immediate crisis roles that legally or operationally require fully proven specialist credentials on day one.
From the transcript
“Don't obsess around hiring A plus people.”
“Create a culture where people can do A plus work, right?”
“But if you can create a culture where people can come in and learn things and do A plus work and become A plus people,…”
From the episode
The CMO Show. How to Find One. How to Be One.