Hiring & Firing. The Ying & Yang of Recruiting.

"Firing" is a provocative choice of words for a goodbye, yet it is a fundamental company function that is too often covered in silence. We must accept a difficult truth: great hiring comes from good firing.

Just as success is forged through failure, these two forces must coexist in a natural "Yin and Yang."

As startups and young organizations begin their journey, we have to embrace the setbacks encountered along the way. Without a clear system for departures, the compounding cost of a "bad hire" can eventually demolish the entire company.

Every departure provides a lesson. We build upon those insights until we eventually land on the hires that can truly elevate the organization.

An organization is, in many ways, like a product. In fact, the best product development ideas came from organic developments of the natural world. No organism grows stronger without facing hardship; even cellular growth is defined by a cycle of regeneration and failure.

Therefore, a bad hire is not a mistake to be covered up or a source of shame—especially when an organization is just beginning its journey.

Implement a departure system. Accept the failure. Learn, and repeat. Great hiring doesn't happen in a vacuum; it comes from the courage to say goodbye.