In his book, Thinking, Fast and Slow, author Daniel Kahneman explains that humans have two systems of thinking, which he creatively calls “System 1” and “System 2”.
System 1 is fast, insinctive and emotional.
When you hear a fire alarm go off, and you rush out of the office building, this is system 1 at play.
System 2 is slower, more deliberate and more logical.
When you’re trying to decide where to go on vacation, you’re using system 2.
What does this have to do with hiring?
A lot of hiring screening is focused on system 1.
“Trivia” quizzes, timed coding challenges, even timeboxed conversations. These all favor fast, on-your-feet types of thinking. System 1.
But here’s the thing…
In IT, success on the job hinges a lot more on System 2 thinking.
Deciding on the optimal architecture for your project, debugging complex code, and even writing documentation are all System 2 processes.
What can we do to overcome this disconnect? Please share your thoughts with me!
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