Gladwell's presentation is utterly useless. He draws some interesting sports analogies and makes some good points. He's right that our ability to measure human performance and potential is flawed. However, he fails to suggest a better process for hiring people. He says to give them a shot at the job and then make a subjective judgment of performance. From a practical hiring perspective, that is an impossible solution. Hiring criteria, behavioral interviewing and assessment centers are not perfect hiring tools, but they provide extra data and information for making the best hiring decision possible.
If he is going to trash the status quo, he should offer a plausible alternative.
