Atitude...

 ...was never on my check list, when I interviewed people for a position or for a project team. I checked  references, grades, competence, knowledge etc. I also listened to my gut feeling for a sanity check. Once in a while I'd ask questions about previuous employers to understand why they where leaving, but never really looked in to their attitude.

It is off course dificult to grade something like atitude, especially when it comes to people you don't know. But, after leading IT-projects for more than 10 years, looking back, it strikes me as IT beeing the ghost creating trouble...

I've been on projects with the most competent and skilled people - which ended in disaster. Recently I was on a project where I met people I usually would consider "old and outdated" (sadly I've fallen into this trap on more than one occasion). This project I consider as one of the most successful projects I have attended, where the successcriteria is called trust, communication and ATITUDE! Open to your feedback and advice, they come into the room with the following atitude: "How can I contribute the best today?".

Another example of this is from an episode from "Hellstrøm rydder opp" (Scandinavian version of Hells Kitchen with Gordon Ramsey), where we meet three women running a café - with no knowledge of cooking good food. They put all their trust in Mr. Hellstrøm and listened to all his advice. While many of the other (competent) chefs in other restaurants failed because they fought back once they felt a sting in their pride, these women copied every move and every dish from Mr. Hellstrøm - and succeded!

When looking for the "right people" today, I always consider their atitude.Will they add their own energi and boost others? Or will they add energy, buy "steeling" it from other?

You can teach people new skills, but changing peoples attitude is far more dificult - if possible.