Successful career match similar to finding a spouse

"Courting Your Career" by Shawn Graham, Jist Publishing, $12.95.

Taking his cue from Internet dating services, Shawn Graham believes that a successful career relationship can be found, too.

By matching job seeker profiles with company and industry profiles, job seekers become aware of their "type," and what questions they need to ask to confirm a match.

While geared to college students and those who just entered the work world, Graham's advice applies to anyone thinking of Monday morning as "Monday moaning."

Unlike the Internet dating game, the job seeker must ferret out information about potential partners. Research and networking play important roles in the career "dating" process.

The "do what you are" cornerstone of the approach focuses on the job seeker profile.

Why? A career isn't about the money; it's about working in an environment that allows you to learn while enjoying what you do. Graham's comment: "Saying 'I don't care about what kind of job I take, as long as it pays the bills' is almost like saying 'I just want someone with teeth' when asked about what you're looking for in a mate."

Also, unlike the mating game where opposites may attract, job-matching requires compatibility. Creative people won't flourish in a highly structured environment, or when working for a micromanager. Those who need structure won't do well in a creative setting.

Knowing what you want -- and don't want -- from a job requires some soul-searching. That begins with taking some interest tests. Graham suggests the Campbell Interest and Skills Survey and the Strong Interest Inventory. CISS measures self-reported vocational interests and skills; Strong deals with career decisions, work-life balance, training and education. He points to www.ReadyMinds.com if resources are unavailable through a college career center.

Graham acknowledges that looking for the right career match takes time -- much like playing the field until you find the right person. It's time well spent when you consider that a career path will affect the other life choices you will face.

His advice doesn't stop at career choice; he goes into the process of landing the job, too. I especially liked Chapter 8, "Dinner and a Movie?: Common Interview Formats and Questions." The first-round interview has the angst of a first date -- anticipation, what to wear, what to say, what not to say, etc.

This book helps you find your career soulmate.

Harvard Business Review, January 2008 issue, Harvard Business School Press, $16.95.

Covering leadership and strategy, this issue includes articles on competitive forces, mentoring and innovation killers.

My favorite: "Innovation Killers: How Financial Tools Destroy Your Capacity to Do New Things." It compares management by the numbers to saying "The operation was a success, but the patient died." It takes to task three key financial measurements -- discounted cash flow or DCF, net present value, or NPV, and earnings per share, or EPS.

While the math is correct, its application is faulty; there's a built-in bias against innovation. DCF and NPV assume that the firm's financial stability will continue if the investment in innovation is not made; and that the resources required to grow the business remain constant. EPS assumes that creating shareholder value is a short-term focus, i.e., shareholders don't ascribe to a buy-and-hold strategy.

The math invokes Parmenides' Fallacy, that conditions in the real world must necessarily be unchanging, because it ignores competition and the ever-changing face of consumerism. Basing future investment on historical results is a recipe for a decline in performance.

The math of DCF, NPV and EPS doesn't provide the answer to how we grow from Point A to Point B.