If you are struggling with talent and wondering why you can’t replicate those one or two rockstar performers you have, consider this: 

Back in 2010, the US Navy commissioned a survey to find out what differentiates the 20-30% of candidates who make it through SEAL training from those who don't.  Some of the results weren’t too surprising. 

Elite performers tended to come from physically demanding endurance sports like water polo, wrestling and triathletes, and less from straight “tough guy” sports like football. 

But the surprise was the one bit of experience that made candidates 3x more likely to be in the elite levels of the class. 

Chess players.

When you think of it, it makes perfect sense.  Problem solving under stress.  Strategic thinking.  Adaptability.  But on the surface, no one thinks you'd find your next Navy SEAL at the chess club. But the Navy used this bit of data to save millions, increasing both the quality and quantity of its applicant pool.

Here my point. Often our recruiting efforts often focus on characteristics that are easy to spot.  Do they have a college degree?  Do they have a particular certification? 

But, if you’re looking for a shortcut to elite talent, the data might be right under your nose.  This process is called Distinction Analysis, and we teach it in our critical thinking workshops for all sorts of applications, but it can work really well for this problem if you have a fairly large team or have a lot of historical data on past team members.

1) List everything you know about your rock star performers. Their characteristics, qualifications, tendencies, etc. 

2) List the same for your average performers.

3) Compare the lists and see if you can spot differentiators. 

Maybe you'll come up with nothing new. But you might just find the secret to building your own elite team. 

Best of luck, people! And if you'd like to develop critical thinking skills in your leaders, let us know. We have all sorts of tools to share.