How to Tell How Good Someone Is

Summary

• The quality and quantity of metrics someone explains about their job is directly linked with how good they are at it.
• Ask people what metrics they track to understand their expertise better.
• If someone claims to be an amazing HR person, ask for their key metrics like team happiness and payroll complaints.
• The order and type of metrics they mention reveal what they care about and their skill level.
• This applies to any field, such as product management where metrics like activation rate and time to value are crucial.
• Always measure and track performance to prove expertise, not just say you are good at something.

Video

How To Take Action

I would suggest implementing the strategy of using metrics to understand and prove expertise right away. This can be done with little cost and time, but it delivers high value.

First, identify the key metrics that are relevant to your role or business. For example, if you’re in HR, focus on metrics like team happiness and the number of payroll complaints. If you’re managing a product, look at the activation rate and the time to value.

Next, track these metrics consistently. Use simple tools like spreadsheets or free software to log this data. This gives you a clear picture of your performance and highlights areas for improvement.

Then, communicate these metrics effectively. When discussing your role or business with others, mention these metrics to demonstrate your expertise. For instance, if you’re talking about your HR skills, say, “I monitor team happiness weekly and track payroll complaints monthly to ensure smooth operations.”

Additionally, ask others for their metrics. When you're dealing with partners or hiring new team members, inquire about the metrics they track. This helps you gauge their expertise and focus. For example, if someone claims to excel in product management, ask them about their activation rate and see if they can explain it clearly.

Finally, use these metrics to set goals. Establish targets based on your tracked data to push for continuous improvement. If your activation rate is 30%, aim for 40% next quarter.

By focusing on metrics, you not only prove your expertise but also create a clear path for growth and success.

Full Transcript

the quality and quantity of metrics that someone explains about how they do their job in my experience is directly correlated with how good they are at the job and so if someone's like hey I'm an amazing HR person and I say cool what metrics do you track and they're like the happiness of the team how many complaints I get on payroll and the order that they tell me the metrics they're looking at and what they track is going to tell me what they care about what they pay attention to and their level of expertise and this applies for everything whether it's somebody who's like in product which is okay what's the activation rate what's their time to value they're start talking in product language rather than like it's got to be clean it's like well how do you measure that how do you know that if you don't then you're just saying words to me to get hired not because you're good