Work is a Verb

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Hey Reader,

So... about that "weekly" part of our newsletter. Turns out launching a startup while simultaneously planning a wedding that's now just 90 days away wasn't the brilliant time management decision I thought it would be. Who knew?

I'm working to get back on track, but thankfully we had the foresight to call this the "weekly(ish)" newsletter from the start. After all, the most rewarding outcomes rarely come from the safest choices—whether in business decisions, hiring practices, or major life events.

Speaking of taking calculated risks with potentially enormous upside...

The Promise Principle: Smart Risks in Hiring Pay Off

Most hiring managers behave like anxious investors who missed the Bitcoin boom and now only buy treasury bonds. They create job descriptions with exhaustive lists of required skills. They demand candidates who’ve already done the exact same job elsewhere. They want the “sure thing” — someone who can slide into the role with minimal fuss.

But what if playing it safe is actually the riskiest move of all?

In investing, the relationship between risk and reward is fundamental: volatility is simply the price you pay for growth potential. The most lucrative opportunities rarely come with guarantees—they require betting on future possibilities rather than past performance.

The same principle applies to talent. When we insist on proven skills and perfect experience matches, we’re missing out on the workplace equivalent of early-stage investments with massive upside potential.

The Growth vs. Status Quo Mindset

Here’s something that should make you rethink your hiring playbook: Gartner’s research shows organizations that hire for promise rather than perfect proficiency are nearly twice as likely to see effective performance. Yet a paltry 28% of companies have the courage to prioritize this approach.

Ask any leader about their best hire ever, and I guarantee they’ll tell you about someone they took a chance on—not the “safe” candidate with the pristine resume. I’ve asked this question hundreds of times, and the answer is always the same: “Well, on paper they weren’t the obvious choice, but something told me to take the risk…” These stories never start with “They checked every box on our requirements list.”

There’s a world of difference between recycling someone who’s already proven a skill elsewhere versus elevating someone who’s demonstrated exceptional learning ability but hasn’t yet performed at that level. The first approach maintains mediocrity; the second creates exponential growth. The companies seeing remarkable results—with “high promise” hires performing nearly twice as effectively—aren’t just hiring differently; they’re building entirely different organizations.

Why Remote Work Amplifies the Promise Principle

In the remote work environment, this principle becomes even more powerful. Remote settings naturally reward skills that often go unmeasured in traditional hiring: self-direction, written communication, problem-solving without constant supervision, and the ability to build relationships across digital spaces.

These are precisely the adaptive skills that promise-based hiring identifies and nurtures. The rigid, checkbox approach to hiring becomes even more outdated when working remotely because the game has fundamentally changed. We’re no longer hiring for performance in controlled office environments—we’re building teams that thrive in fluid, distributed settings where adaptability trumps rote experience every time.

The most forward-thinking remote organizations have already figured this out. They’re not seeking candidates who’ve spent five years using the exact project management software they use—they’re finding people who can master new tools, communicate effectively across time zones, and bring fresh perspectives to long-standing challenges.

The Upside of Smart Volatility

The benefits of hiring for promise in a remote environment extend far beyond individual performance:

Cultivates true adaptability: When we elevate promising talent into stretching roles, we build teams that pivot at market speed rather than corporate speed
Creates organizational resilience: Distributed teams with diverse experience profiles weather disruptions better than homogeneous groups of “perfect” candidates
Transforms retention: Employees given growth opportunities based on potential rather than perfect pedigree don’t just stay longer—they become your most passionate culture ambassadors
Ignites unexpected innovation: The person without the “right” background often asks the questions everyone else is too conditioned to consider

This mirrors what we’ve documented across hundreds of remote organizations. Companies clinging to rigid structures and conventional approaches aren’t just frustrating employees—they’re creating dangerous blind spots while their more agile competitors are reimagining what’s possible.

The most successful remote organizations understand that some volatility in hiring isn’t something to avoid—it’s something to channel strategically for maximum upside.

Your Next Move

What’s your best “promise hire” story?

The team member you took a chance on who delivered returns that exceeded all expectations? Or maybe you're the one that someone took chance on? I’d love to hear about it—just hit reply and share. I’m collecting these stories for an upcoming feature, and the patterns we’re seeing are too compelling not to share.

5 Strategies to Promote Asynchronous Collaboration for Remote Teams

The async revolution: where productivity transcends the clock. Leaders, here's how to stay ahead of the curve.

We're excited to shine a spotlight on our partner Grapevine, who launched today on Product Hunt!

Grapevine is tackling one of remote work's biggest challenges: the fragmentation of communication and knowledge across multiple tools. Their Virtual Office Platform creates a centralized hub that brings everything distributed teams need into one searchable space.

What we love about Grapevine is not just their innovative approach to virtual workspaces, but also their commitment to shipping fast while actively supporting the remote community. They're building solutions that address real pain points many of us face daily—from information silos to the endless hunt for that one document someone shared "somewhere" last month.

If you have a moment, consider checking out their Product Hunt launch and showing some support. It's always worth celebrating when new tools emerge that make remote work more seamless and connected.

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