Name your ten

One experiment on one role, not a change to how you hire.

Pick an open role where the outcome swings on who fills it and the people who could fill it have live alternatives. Write down ten people you'd be thrilled to hire. Not titles, names.

Then we approach those ten the way they actually make decisions: we go first. The real problem, the real constraints, the real numbers. First conversation, not a recruiter screen. Decisions in days.

The bar stays exactly where it is - it's just moved past the first conversation, not before it. Everything else in your hiring stays exactly as it is.

Small enough to say yes to

No process overhaul, no sunk cost, and no argument with whoever built the process you already have. One role, ten names, run in parallel with everything else.

What it costs

25% of total annual compensation.

Charged in three stages:

• 25% on commencement
• 50% on offer acceptance
• 25% at three months

How we'd know it worked

Worth agreeing before it starts rather than after.

• Response rate to first contact on the named ten
• How many reach a real conversation, and how fast
• Whether anyone said yes who would never have applied

The third one is the whole argument in a single data point.

Start with your ten