Unanswered Questions
While there have been advances in typical vs. maximum performance theory since Sackett and colleagues’ seminal paper, studies on this topic have been limited and many questions are still unanswered. In focusing on the antecedents of both performance types, conflicting research has prohibited researchers from drawing concrete conclusions as to how to forecast employees’ potential performances. Specifically, there has not been consistent support for either personality as an antecedent of typical performance or intelligence as an antecedent of maximum performance. In addition, very few other antecedents have been suggested as relating to either type of performance.
Another unanswered question is the time period that may elapse when studying maximum and typical performance. As mentioned, a requirement of maximum performance is that it must be observed over a “short period of time,” whereas typical performance is observed over an extended period of time. However, Sackett and other researchers have left the exact duration requirements vague. Future research could examine where the cutoff point between typical and maximum performance lies.
Read more about this topic: Typical Versus Maximum Performance
Famous quotes related to unanswered questions:
“All of childhood’s unanswered questions must finally be passed back to the town and answered there. Heroes and bogey men, values and dislikes, are first encountered and labeled in that early environment. In later years they change faces, places and maybe races, tactics, intensities and goals, but beneath those penetrable masks they wear forever the stocking-capped faces of childhood.”
—Maya Angelou (b. 1928)