job-description

Overview

Based on Hire With Your Head by Lou Adler. Traditional JDs list requirements (skills, years of experience, degrees) but don't tell candidates what they'll actually do. Performance-based JDs flip the model: define what "great" looks like in 90 days and 1 year, then work backward to what's required. This filters for candidates who can deliver outcomes, not just match keywords.

Workflow

Step 1: Define the Performance Objective

Before writing a single word of the posting, answer: "What does this person need to accomplish in the first 90 days to be considered successful?"

Ask [hiring manager]:

• "If you hired someone today and they exceeded your expectations at 90 days, what would they have done?"
• "What's the one outcome that, if missing, would make this hire a failure?"
• "What does the person in this role own, end-to-end?"