Stop Hiring for Polish

Companies claim they want outliers. They say they value innovation, creativity, and disruption. But when it’s time to hire, they default to predictable patterns. They opt for seasoned candidates, impressive resumes, and polished presentations. Predictably, this leads to seasoned results: conventional inputs create conventional outputs.

This paradox is at the core of why so many organizations stagnate over time. They believe they're hiring excellence, but they're actually building inertia. By favoring people who neatly fit predefined molds, they inadvertently filter out exactly the kind of individuals who create outsized impacts.

To truly drive innovation, hiring practices need to shift. Instead of valuing professional sheen and smooth edges, hiring managers should seek foundational competence paired with distinct personality spikes. Look for someone with clarity of thought, baseline execution skills, and then something extra: an edge, an unusual perspective, even a bit of grit or restlessness. Or as the comedian Joey Diaz put it (with his signature Jersey growl): “I like people with a little bit of edge to them”.

The most impactful individuals often carry a chip on their shoulder. They may not perfectly fit the corporate mold. Their resume might be uneven, dotted with bold attempts, failures, pivots, and unlikely experiences. But it’s precisely this variance that gives them leverage.

Think about the types of people who genuinely change organizations or entire industries. Rarely do they come from neatly packaged backgrounds. Instead, they often have strange paths, peculiar interests, or unusual temperaments. They see problems differently because they have lived differently. Their outsider’s view gives them clarity invisible to seasoned insiders.

Yet, conventional hiring processes systematically screen out these outliers. Interviews focus on consistency, reliability, and conformity. Reference checks look for steady career trajectories. Resume scanning algorithms reward uniformity. As a result, these processes unintentionally sand down the sharp edges of variance, leaving organizations filled with smooth, predictable performers. Over time, predictability turns into complacency, and complacency leads to decay.

Breaking this pattern requires deliberately choosing variance. Hiring managers must learn to recognize foundational competence clearly, and then deliberately seek people who deviate from the norm. Ask yourself questions beyond standard assessments: Does this candidate have a personal reason to excel, a deeper drive? Do they possess a unique lens shaped by unconventional experiences? Do they have the courage to challenge established wisdom?

For instance, a candidate who spent years trying to start their own venture but ultimately failed might lack traditional “stability.” But they also bring deep lessons, resilience, and a hunger impossible to find in someone who never risked anything. A self-taught engineer might not have the pedigree of a polished graduate from an elite university, but their scrappiness and unconventional thinking could deliver more breakthroughs than someone trained to think inside prescribed boundaries.

The difference between good teams and exceptional teams lies in cultivating these distinctive perspectives rather than neutralizing them. Exceptional leaders know this. They deliberately choose candidates with foundational skills plus a clear spike: someone sharp enough to puncture corporate inertia. They aren’t afraid to embrace unconventionality, even if it initially feels risky or uncomfortable.

In the end, conventional inputs will always yield conventional outputs. To avoid becoming stale, companies must break free from the seductive safety of polished resumes and seasoned candidates. Start hiring for edge. Seek out variance, not conformity. Let personality spikes, strange lenses, and chips on shoulders become strengths rather than red flags.

Because in a rapidly changing world, the biggest risk isn’t hiring someone different. It’s hiring yet another person who’s exactly the same.