Dave Seligsohn, AbilityMap’s Head of Growth, co-authored a piece with Peder Jacobsen, VP Learning at BI WORLDWIDE, on why most hiring processes still rely on proxies instead of directly measuring what predicts performance.
The article, published on BI WORLDWIDE’s website, examines what the authors call “Capability Intelligence”: the practice of measuring specific behavioural and cognitive capabilities against the actual requirements of a role, rather than inferring fit from resumes, personality tests, or unstructured interviews.
The core argument is straightforward. Experience, confidence, and interview performance are proxies. They correlate loosely with job success but they don’t measure it directly. Capability Intelligence does. It identifies the behavioural dispositions that determine whether someone will sustain performance once the interview is over and the work begins.
The piece draws on data from a B2B sales organisation where high performers scored 12 to 27 percent higher than low performers on critical capabilities. Not on experience or tenure. On the specific behavioural traits the role demanded.
For anyone following AbilityMap’s work, the methodology will be familiar. Capability Intelligence is what AbilityMap’s assessment platform is built on: measuring the 31 capabilities that determine role fit, scored against bespoke role profiles, so hiring decisions are grounded in evidence rather than instinct.
