Why We Invest Instead of Assess

Ratings. Nine-box scores. Potential evaluations. Instead of spending so much time and energy fixing numbers to people, what if we focused on investing in them instead?

Science tells us we're horribly unreliable raters of other people, but we're really good at reporting the actions we plan to personally take. So, instead of asking a leader how they will assess a person, ask them to determine how they will invest in them. A team member might benefit from training, coaching, or a job rotation. This pivot from assessment to investment creates a very different experience for people, an experience we all deserve.

This is something we're experimenting with at Cisco, and you can learn more about what we're up to in this week's video