Thanks Greg! I think you’re absolutely right, and you’ve identified the real problem: now that we know what we value (or what I value, at least), how do we make sure that we hire for those qualities?

Backdoor references are one of my favorite methods for vetting candidates and getting a better glimpse into what it’s like to work with them. If there’s someone at my current company who used to work with the candidate applying for the job, I always ask them about their experience of what it was like working with this individual, if they’d be excited about working with them again, etc.