“I noticed that the dynamic range between what an average person could accomplish and what the best person could accomplish was 50 or 100 to 1. Given that, you’re well advised to go after the cream of the cream…A small team of A+ players can run circles around a giant team of B and C players.” Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs was right. He said that “A small team of A players can run circles around a giant team of B and C players.” And he said that there was a huge difference between what an average person – a B player – can accomplish, and what the best person – an A player – can accomplish. He noted that A players accomplish 50-100 times more than average, B players.

Steve Jobs was right. A Players run circles around B and C Players. And he credits Apple’s ability to find, hire and retain A Players as a key driver in the company’s unprecedented success.

In our last blog post, I wrote that Steve Jobs said A players are 50-100 times more productive than B or C players. Here again I mention Steve: he credited Apple’s ability to find, hire and retain A players as a key driver in the company’s unprecedented success.

Over the past 20 years Entelligence consultants have delivered over 30,000 enterprise IT projects. And what we’ve found is that the top 10% of IT consultants – the A players – have 5 traits that put them head and shoulders above the rest of the crowd.

An A player is someone in the top 10% of the available talent pool. They communicate effectively, are honest, transparent and eager to learn, and they just don’t quit.

If we only look at the people who work for Apple and we know Apple only hires A players, we can attribute some of the company’s success to who they hire.

The top 10% of IT consultants – the A players – have 5 traits that put them head and shoulders above the rest of the crowd.