I've got really good hiring advice: learn to fire fast

Overview

The core argument is that no one is reliably good at hiring, and pretending otherwise causes operators to hold onto bad hires longer than they should. The real skill is not perfect selection upfront but the willingness to act quickly once a mismatch is clear. Ego — specifically the reluctance to admit a hiring error — is identified as the primary reason bad employees stay too long.

Key takeaways

• Speed of correction after a bad hire matters more than the quality of the original hiring decision.
• Keeping a poor performer is often driven by ego, not genuine uncertainty about their performance.
• Admitting a hiring mistake quickly is a business discipline, not a personal failure to avoid.
• No operator or executive is reliably skilled at hiring; accepting that removes the shame barrier.
• Even high-investment hires — multiple interviews, high compensation — can and should be cut fast.

Worth quoting

• "You think you're so good at hiring, and then you hire somebody and they're bad, but you make pretend they're not because firing them admits that you were wrong."
• "It's your own ego that's holding you back."
• "You're not that great at hiring, but good news, nobody is."