Barrels vs. Ammunition

What is the true test of knowing when to offer someone a promotion? How do we define what good job performance consists of? Is it long hours, how a person interacts with others or how he/she plays the political game?

Keith Rabois, an early PayPal employee and now a venture capitalist, has some hard and fast rules to follow — detailing in a recent lecture how we can segment employees into two categories: "Barrels" and "Ammunition."

“Most great people actually are ammunition," he said. "But what you need in your company [startups in particular] are barrels.”

How do we define and categorize each?

Barrels

• Can take an idea from its conception and transform it all the way to existing in the world, leading people to make it happen

• You give this person a project, goal or problem and that’s the last instruction he/she needs

Ammunition

• They will do what they’re told to the best of their ability

• Can be masters of a specialization

So, how do we evaluate whether someone is a barrel or ammunition?

Rabois suggests giving someone a difficult project, but small in scope, then seeing how they solve the entire problem.

“The other signal to look for is once you've hired someone with an open office, watch who goes up to other people's desks, particularly people they don't report to," he said.

"If someone keeps going to some individual employee's desk and they don't report to them, it's a sign that they believe that person can help them. So, if you see that consistently, those are your barrels.”

Finally, he suggests that any time you have an opportunity to take on a Barrel, you should pull the trigger — even if you aren’t hiring at that particular moment.

Want to improve your career or earn a promotion?

Learn how to become a Barrel.