“Two years ago, we started to hire a different shape of engineers. No longer optimized for people's experience. Optimize for people's agency, energy, optimism, curiosity. A rough framework we're using is…. Talent = Capability/Experience x Taste/Value System x Agency/Will” - Ivan Zhao

Full episode with @bhalligan & @ivanhzhao:

+1, if I had to hire anyone it would be people who have genuine passion on what they work on because odds are you get all 3 in one. passion = agency/will + value what they work on + capability to learn and exceed expectations. dont always need the most experience 🙃

Not gonna lie I was thinking that was capability divided by experience and taste divided by value

That talent formula is a great way to rethink how we hire engineers.

Experience still matters, but agency and judgment are becoming much stronger predictors of impact. AI raises the value of people who can turn ambiguity into motion.

Hiring in the new age. Notion team is cooking

Experience tells you what worked before. Curiosity makes you question whether it should work the same way again.

Hiring for curiosity over experience makes sense right now.

Dividing capability by experience mathematically penalizes veterans to select for steep trajectories. High agency combined with low experience generates technical debt unless the taste multiplier is strictly enforced by senior reviews.

I like the direction. Capability gets people through the door, but agency often determines how much that capability expands over the next five years. Long-term organizations are usually built by people who keep growing, not just people who arrive with the strongest résumé.

How about you optimize for interline spacing you cunts. Roll back the ugly change!

I like Notion

Great perspective. Hiring for agency, energy, curiosity, and optimism can create teams that don’t just execute—they innovate. 🔥

Agency is often the multiplier people underestimate.

Go to LinkedIn with that shit

Linux desktop app yet?

Agency may be becoming one of the most valuable traits on a team. Capability matters, but people who see what needs to happen, take ownership and keep learning create a very different kind of leverage, especially as AI makes specific experience easier to acquire.