Ever play Tetris before? The goal is to line up geometric figures in complete lines to earn points. Making things fit is the name of the game.

The image on the left is a joke, because it’s simply not possible to complete a line with the rounded bottom.

In other words, success is impossible.

As recruiters and HR pros, we do our best to get people into our organizations that fit our culture. Sometimes it’s extremely frustrating when you find someone who looks like an all star but isn’t the right cultural fit for your business.

Trying to force a fit in this situation isn’t going to make things work. And that isn’t necessarily your fault.

Sometimes people just won’t fit.

But it’s not necessarily a bad thing. That’s what separates Zappos from Wal-Mart. Keep that in mind.

Image credit: XKCD

Originally written as a guest post for Chris Ferdinandi over at RenegadeHR.net.

Managers need development like any other employee, but sometimes it is difficult to find out just what they want or need to learn. Last Friday I had a guest post run on IncBlot’s website. I talked about how to develop managers. I think it’s a great way to secretly gather information from them and start working to make them better without them even realizing it; I’d be interested to hear your thoughts on it. Will it work? Will it fail? Why?

I have a fun post up on TLNT today called “Everything I Know About Business I Learned from Jerry Maguire.” They are running a fun series over there because there’s some special celebrity movie awards ceremony coming up. I don’t pay attention to that stuff but it’s worth checking out the other great posts!

Click here to check it out!

What do illegal interview questions, video training for managers, and required reading lists for employees have in common? They are all guest posts I’ve done in the past little while! Looks like I’m a little schizophrenic with the varying topics, but each post has its own merits.

These guest posts went live (fairly recently) elsewhere that you may have missed. Some of them might be a bit different flavor than the usual upstartHR offerings, so be sure to check them out! If you’re interested in seeing some of my previous escapades, click here for the Guest Post Blitz archive.

Here’s a new hire program I can get behind. Employees are required to read books as a way to introduce them to the culture and encourage them to keep professional development on their radar. Thanks to Matt at Monster Thinking for letting me share!

My friend JT at Careerealism shared this question with me and I just couldn’t pass it up. It sounded like an episode of Jerry Springer and the title is “Can I get fired for this?” The funny thing is I had to read the question ten times and diagram the situation so I could understand and respond.

Ever wondered if those interview questions about when you graduated school are actually legal? I hit on that in this post for Careerealism. (Hint: the question itself isn’t illegal, it’s what you do with it that counts).

This one’s so new it still has the bubble wrap on it. I ran into a snag when I was looking at developing a social recruiting plan for my employer. Apparently social recruiting doesn’t work for everyone. Would love some comments on this one.

Over on RocketHR I posted about creating and distributing video training for managers on an as-needed basis. Having trouble with conflict resolution? Send them the video with some tips and tricks to doing that better. Need some assistance with giving feedback to staff? There’s a video for that one, too.

And finally, I’ve had a lot of comments in person on this post about who is HR’s customer. Is it the employee? The manager? The job candidate? Senior leadership? The garbage man? Yeah, there are a lot of facets to consider and this one isn’t a simple question to answer.

Whew! As you can tell by the title, we covered a lot of stuff today. Wait, you didn’t hear? I was the guest today on DriveThruHR with Bryan Wempen and William Tincup. We talked about the day job (manager training and selecting a performance management tool), HR certification and its value to employers and professionals, HRevolution, Project:Social, and more. I highly recommend it not because I talk a lot, but because there are some great tips in there for getting involved and making a difference in your own piece of the world.

Click here to listen to the episode

Just finished a podcast about the SHRM Leadership Conference with my good friend Bryan Wempen of DriveThruHR. We talked about local SHRM chapters, the volunteers that make up the backbone of the organization, and my sweet little babies. Click the button below to listen to the show.

Also, my good friend Dave Ryan had a go with Bryan on the show just before I got a chance to get on. Dave’s interview can be found at this link. Big shout out to Dave for allowing me to share his hotel room for SHRM Leadership. I offered to sleep in the floor, but he got his room changed to have a second bed just for me. I promised him blogging assistance in return.

What do difficult people, SHRM’s value proposition (or lack thereof), guinea pigs, and enthusiasm have in common? They are all guest posts I’ve done in the past little while! Looks like I’m a little schizophrenic with the varying topics, but each post has its own merits.

I have several guest posts that went live (fairly recently) elsewhere that you may have missed. Some of them might be a bit different flavor than the usual upstartHR offerings, so be sure to check them out! If you’re interested in seeing some of my previous escapades, click here for the Guest Post Blitz archive.

My friend Charlie Judy at HR Fishbowl let me share my thoughts on working with difficult people in this short post: Who needs a class? Get rid of them!

John Jorgenson of the newly christened HR Tailgate blog opened up the discussion by letting me reply to his own SHRM-related post with an article of my own: SHRM, Value, and You

Jessica Miller Merrill at Blogging4Jobs opened up the stage and let me discuss science experiments, rodents, and an billion dollar corporation’s product strategies: Guinea Pigs and Google

Lance Haun over at Rehaul lets me talk about one of my favorite elements of a good candidate: enthusiasm-can it get you hired?

On the NASHRM chapter blog, RocketHR, I discussed good work etiquette and not making a bad impression: termination for bad manners? (don’t miss my funny SlideShare presentation at the bottom!)

And finally, Laurie Ruettimann told me to write something about SHRM and how they can stop doing things poorly, so of course I jumped at the chance: SHRM-3 recommendations from a new member.

Just a little bit of my brain floating around the interwebs these days. Anything in there interesting or enjoyable? What’s your favorite piece?