7 Responses

1. Two Steps Forward …
   What a fascinating idea.

   Assume that past behaviour is the best predictor of future behaviour.

   Based on what, I wonder?

   The belief that people’s behaviour is fixed and unalterable?

   The belief that behaviour is independent of context?

   The belief that people cannot learn?

   I should think watching a couple of programmes from the BBC2 series “Grumpy Old Men” and/or “Grumpy old Women” might put people in the right frame of mind

   😉

2. Finger in the wind
   >>>Assume that past behaviour is the best predictor of future behaviour.>>>

   I dont think its an assumption that its a predictor – its based on hard evidence, when you look at evidence based behaviour eg. criminal acts then they do seem to replicate themselves – Ian Huntley and many others.
   Neither do I think there is any assumption that its ‘the best’ predictor. there are certainly other methods to predict behaviour eg. gut reaction or a hunch or simply intuition oh and hours and hours of testing.
   Sure people grow and people learn and change and SOME people DONT – perhaps its would be simpler to simply toss a coin and predict on that basis after all life’s pretty random isnt it and I’m sure an employment tribuneral will see the sense in it 😉

3. Thank you
   Thank you both for your replies, they will be very helpful in putting together a warm-up exercise, thanks you.
   regards
   Buffy
   http://www.rippleeffect.eu

4. Son of BPR?
   Hi

   “Neither do I think there is any assumption that its ‘the best’ predictor”

   If that isn’t true I’m glad to hear it.
   I was, however, quoting the first line of the write up of a book on competency based interviews on the Barclay Simpson website.

   Presumably there is a certain amount of confusion on the subject.
   Perhaps not surprising given that past behaviour is NOT necessarily a reliable predictor of future behaviour at the MUNDANE level.

   This looks, to me, like yet another formulaic approach to management which will go the same way as washouts such as “Business Process Re-Engineering”, but not before it has pointlessly upset a good many lives.

5. Non sequiter
   >>>This looks, to me, like yet another formulaic approach to management.>>>

   Do look further – its a recruitment tool not a management approach.

6. Management by any other name

   “its a recruitment tool not a management approach.”

   I may be wrong, but I’ve always thought of job interviews as a key element of people management.

7. Web Based Variant
   You could use a variant of this web based exercise:

   http://www.careertalk.com/probing-left.html

   It could be a good way to introduce the subject.

   I would also recommend ‘More Than a Gut Feeling’ a Melrose Video, it was first produced in 1987 to help people using Behaviour Based Interviewing back then and from a quick Google I think it’s now up to version 3.

   The following PDF document is a handy companion to this video as well:

   http://www.business.uconn.edu/placement/BP_Documents/Behavioral%20Interviewing%20Handout.pdf