by Karl Kurtz
One summer when I was in college, I sold Cutco knives door to door. I hated the job and didn't do very well at it. About the only people who bought knives from me were family members. I never "...got the Cutco spirit, deep in my heart, deep in my heart!"--a song that we were forced to sing at sales meetings.
So I was amused to read "How to Hire a Field Director" in Virginia Delegate Kris Amundson's blog:
I heard an interview with David Plouffe, who managed the Obama 2008 Presidential campaign. He was talking about his early years. And, almost as a throwaway, he added that in one of his early jobs, he sold knives door to door.
Over the years, one of the tidbits I learned when I was hiring field people was to ask, casually, “You ever sell knives?”
Apparently it’s great training for field organizing. Over and over, those former knife salespeople knocked on more doors, got more and better IDs, and worked harder than anyone else.
So to my friends who are still in the arena, a word to the wise. People who sell knives make GREAT field directors. Or Presidential campaign managers.
I think Delegate Amundson is probably right about this, but I would amend her rule by saying that people who like selling knives and do it well make great field directors. The fact that I have made a career of being a political scientist or a nonpartisan staff analyst, not a political operative or a candidate, might prove a corollary to the rule: Those who don't like selling knives or don't do well at it, probably won't make great field directors.
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