{"id":5878,"date":"2026-01-12T14:56:31","date_gmt":"2026-01-12T14:56:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.pmcraft.com\/?p=132"},"modified":"2026-02-23T10:39:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-23T10:39:08","slug":"agency-protocol","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/61.notredamme.com\/utpalmv-v2\/agency-protocol\/","title":{"rendered":"The Agency Protocol: Hiring Owners in a World of Renters"},"content":{"rendered":"<p data-path-to-node=\"6\">Resumes are marketing brochures. Interviews are theater. If you hire based on &#8220;Skills&#8221; listed on a CV, you will fill your company with mercenaries. They will do the work, but they will not build the future.<\/p>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"7\">To build a World-Class Organization, you must filter for <b data-path-to-node=\"7\" data-index-in-node=\"57\">Agency<\/b>.<\/p>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"8\"><b data-path-to-node=\"8\" data-index-in-node=\"0\">The Definition of High Agency<\/b><\/p>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"8\">A &#8220;High Agency&#8221; person does not wait for instructions. When they hit a wall, they do not stop and report, <i data-path-to-node=\"8\" data-index-in-node=\"136\">&#8220;Boss, there is a wall.&#8221;<\/i> They climb it. They tunnel under it. They dynamite it. They view &#8220;Reality&#8221; as a suggestion, not a law.<\/p>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"9\"><b data-path-to-node=\"9\" data-index-in-node=\"0\">The 3 Litmus Tests<\/b><\/p>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"9\">Forget standard interview questions (&#8220;Where do you see yourself in 5 years?&#8221;). Use these tests to detect Agency.<\/p>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"10\"><b data-path-to-node=\"10\" data-index-in-node=\"0\">1. The &#8220;Figure It Out&#8221; Test<\/b><\/p>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"10\">Give them a vague, difficult problem during the trial phase.<\/p>\n<ul data-path-to-node=\"11\">\n<li>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"11,0,0\"><i data-path-to-node=\"11,0,0\" data-index-in-node=\"0\">Low Agency:<\/i> Asks 20 clarifying questions before starting.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"11,1,0\"><i data-path-to-node=\"11,1,0\" data-index-in-node=\"0\">High Agency:<\/i> Comes back 24 hours later with 3 potential solutions and a recommendation.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"12\"><b data-path-to-node=\"12\" data-index-in-node=\"0\">2. The &#8220;Janitor&#8221; Test<\/b><\/p>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"12\">Watch how they treat the receptionist, the waiter, or the junior intern. High Agency people understand systems. They know that the &#8220;small&#8221; people run the machinery. If they are arrogant to the waiter, they have a fragile ego. A fragile ego cannot handle the truth. Fire them before you hire them.<\/p>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"13\"><b data-path-to-node=\"13\" data-index-in-node=\"0\">3. The &#8220;Push Back&#8221; Test<\/b><\/p>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"13\">During the interview, say something slightly incorrect or controversial.<\/p>\n<ul data-path-to-node=\"14\">\n<li>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"14,0,0\"><i data-path-to-node=\"14,0,0\" data-index-in-node=\"0\">The Renter:<\/i> Nods and agrees (Compliance).<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"14,1,0\"><i data-path-to-node=\"14,1,0\" data-index-in-node=\"0\">The Owner:<\/i> Politely challenges you (Integrity). You do not want a &#8220;Yes Man.&#8221; You want a &#8220;Truth Man.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"15\"><b data-path-to-node=\"15\" data-index-in-node=\"0\">The Protocol<\/b><\/p>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"15\">Hire for <b data-path-to-node=\"15\" data-index-in-node=\"22\">Slope<\/b> (Trajectory\/Learning Speed), not <b data-path-to-node=\"15\" data-index-in-node=\"61\">Intercept<\/b> (Current Skills). You can teach a High Agency person how to code or sell. You cannot teach a Low Agency person how to care.<\/p>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"16\"><b data-path-to-node=\"16\" data-index-in-node=\"0\">#DhandheKaFunda:<\/b> <i data-path-to-node=\"16\" data-index-in-node=\"17\">Renters wait for the radiator to be fixed. Owners buy a heater. Hire Owners.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Resumes are marketing brochures. Interviews are theater. If you hire based on &#8220;Skills&#8221; listed on a CV, you will fill your company with mercenaries. They will do the work, but they will not build the future. To build a World-Class Organization, you must filter for Agency. The Definition of High Agency A &#8220;High Agency&#8221; person [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[75],"tags":[118,119],"class_list":["post-5878","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blueprint","tag-hiring","tag-team"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/61.notredamme.com\/utpalmv-v2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5878","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/61.notredamme.com\/utpalmv-v2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/61.notredamme.com\/utpalmv-v2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/61.notredamme.com\/utpalmv-v2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/61.notredamme.com\/utpalmv-v2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5878"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/61.notredamme.com\/utpalmv-v2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5878\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/61.notredamme.com\/utpalmv-v2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5878"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/61.notredamme.com\/utpalmv-v2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5878"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/61.notredamme.com\/utpalmv-v2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5878"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}