This is a good idea for a series, and I enjoyed the interview immensely, but I think that one thing needs to be pointed out. It's easy to get swept away but the astute observations Pagan makes but his tips are easier said than done. In today's hiring market we are lucky to find candidates who can perform well at their trained profession, let alone allowing them to develop their own amorphous "job description". I agree that we shouldn't box people in, but when do you draw the line?

The other matter is one of roi. So much money and time goes into hiring these days that we don't have much wiggle room to let potential candidates find their footing. That is slowly starting to change, with recruiting marketplaces like Dayak offering recruiter connections at lower rates, and of course there's always Linked In, which some folks claim is great for hiring. But even so, how many companies are really willing to pay for an employee to find him/herself?

I know this isn't exactly the point that Pagan makes and I agree that we should, as managers, strive to make our employees more comfortable. But bureaucracies and job descriptions exist for a reason. Stem cells are fine for filling gaps but in the end a functioning body functions on the strength of its specialized cells. A company is no different, I think. Rather than doing what's best for the employees, what should be done is what's best for the company.