Pinballs, Vending Machines, and Synthesizers

We are growing fast, and the question of how to hire more Chefs without lowering a bar that has always been high matters more every month. We need to scale without losing the talent, ownership, and quality that got us here.

I have hired over 300 people in my career. Looking back, I use an analogy to think about the kinds of people we hire and what we need from them. There are three types: pinball machines, vending machines, and synthesizers.

This is not a ranking from worst to best. Each type is valuable in the right context. The mistake is hiring one type and expecting the behavior of another. I'd like us to state which type we want every time we open a vacancy.

The Pinball Machine

You launch the ball and things happen. Sometimes the result is spectacular, sometimes a disaster, and often something you never anticipated. You have some control over the game, but less than you'd like.

That can be a good thing. Creative exploration, ideation, and any work where an occasional breakthrough is worth the unpredictability benefit from experimentation and unconventional thinking. These people can surprise you in ways a structured approach never would. The mistake is putting a pinball machine where you need consistency.

The Vending Machine

Want a KitKat? Find the right coin, insert it, press the right buttons in the right order, and you get your KitKat. Wrong coin, wrong sequence, or a missing step, and you get nothing. (Modern machines take cards and mobile payments too, but you get the point.)

A vending machine is predictable. Give it exactly the right inputs and you know what comes out. But you have to know precisely what you want, understand how the machine works, and supply everything it needs. You will never get anything that isn't on the menu.

Some functions at DataChef need exactly this: repeatability, compliance, operational consistency, and reliable execution against clear requirements. The mistake is expecting independent judgment, initiative, or results beyond the brief from someone hired to operate like a vending machine.

The Synthesizer

You give it a few inputs, maybe not even the right ones. But it doesn't rely only on what you gave it. It picks up signals from colleagues, clients, the market, and the rest of the organization. It reads context, connects dots, challenges assumptions, and combines everything into something you might never have thought to ask for. Sometimes it tells you that you're asking for the wrong thing.

You asked for a KitKat. It worked out that you were hungry.

Put a synthesizer in the hands of a great DJ or producer and you get the same inputs with a different imagination, and a completely different result. A great synthesizer understands the intention behind a task, takes responsibility for the outcome, and looks for ways to improve it.

Synthesizers also need the right environment: trust, room for judgment, access to context, and leaders who accept being challenged. The mistake is hiring a synthesizer and managing them like a vending machine.

What this means for DataChef

Most of our job descriptions are written for vending machines. They list precise responsibilities, defined inputs, expected outputs, and checklists of required skills. Then in interviews we say we want proactive people, independent thinkers, problem solvers, and owners. In other words, synthesizers.

When we do hire one, we sometimes manage them like a vending machine. We prescribe every step, ask for constant updates, leave little room for interpretation, and then wonder why they show so little initiative. This contradiction gets more dangerous as we grow. We can't hire everyone with the same expectations, and not every role needs the same kind of person.

Three principles

1. There is no universally superior type, only the right fit for the job. Some roles need predictable execution. Others reward exploration. Others need people who can handle ambiguity, connect dots, and shape outcomes on their own. We need all three, in the right places.
2. Hire for the behavior the role needs, not the behavior that sounds good in an interview. If the role needs someone to follow a defined process reliably, say so. If it needs someone who can challenge the brief, work with incomplete information, and find out what needs to happen, design the assessment to test that. If we want creativity and experimentation, we accept some unpredictability.
3. Match the management style to the person. A synthesizer without autonomy gets frustrated. A vending machine without clear instructions becomes ineffective. A pinball machine without boundaries creates chaos. Hiring is half the job. Our DOP (DataChef Orientation Program) is the very first step in creating the conditions for people to do their best work is the other half.

Four questions for every new vacancy

Before we open a position, I'd like us to discuss these:

1. What outcome does this role require: predictable execution, creative exploration, or independent synthesis?
2. How much ambiguity will this person face? Will we give clear instructions, or expect them to work out what needs doing?
3. How will we spot the right behavior in interviews and assessments? Are we testing only knowledge and execution, or also curiosity, contextual awareness, judgment, and ownership?
4. Are we ready to manage and empower this person properly? If we want a synthesizer, are we willing to give them room to think, challenge, and act?

This should not become another bureaucratic hiring framework. It is a short, deliberate conversation before we start recruiting.

One last thought

As a founder, I want to be surrounded by people who understand what we're trying to achieve and help us get somewhere better, not only people who carry out what I ask. I'm not looking to give less direction. I just don't want to be the only source of direction as DataChef grows. That makes synthesizers especially valuable in roles that call for independent leadership, client ownership, problem solving, and handling uncertainty.

I don't want that preference to become a blanket philosophy, though. We should be just as proud of hiring an exceptional vending machine for a function that needs flawless, repeatable execution.

And the best synthesizers probably have one more quality: they know when to improvise, when to challenge the brief, and when to simply deliver the damn KitKat. That judgment keeps a synthesizer from becoming a pinball machine; someone who challenges every brief is unpredictable, too. But challenging the brief and delivering aren't mutually exclusive. Often, the best move is to deliver what was asked while flagging the bigger issue, then let the person who owns the decision choose what to do next. You get your KitKat, plus a note that you skipped lunch. The work keeps moving, and the bigger question still gets raised.

Let's keep our hiring bar as high as past, by being more intentional about what excellence looks like in each role, not only by being more selective.