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Here are two, of the infinite number of possible answers:

“I think it is very important to be persistent, particularly if you really believe in your ideas. We really encourage that kind of candor here. With my team, if I have a suggestion that others disagree with, I know they will expect me to keep supporting my idea until somebody comes up with a better one. In fact, it happens all the time.”

“It happened yesterday.”

Which is the better answer? Well, it is hard to say which is “better.” But 2 is certainly the more predictive answer. Here the candidate spontaneously gave you an example that was specific by time, “yesterday.” You don’t know exactly what happened, but who cares? The details are less important than the top-of-mind specificity. You didn’t ask for a specific, but with only one prompt, “Tell me about a time . . .” he gave you a specific. Although you must ask many more questions to gain a fuller picture of his talent, his answer here is a first clue that this behavior, supporting his ideas in the face of resistance, is a recurring part of his life.

By contrast, in 1, the candidate gave you a nice little description of why she thought it was important to be candid and then claimed that “it happens all the time.” There is nothing wrong with this answer. But, lacking any specifics, there is nothing predictive about it, either. Faced with answers like 1, some managers are tempted to probe, “Can you tell me more about that? Can you tell me what happened?” They then judge the answer on the quality of the person’s example: How much detail did she provide? How articulate was she? Do I agree with what she said she did?

This is a cardinal sin of interviewing. Regardless of the detail the candidate eventually provided, if she needed two or three probes to describe a specific example, then the chances are that the behavior in question is not a recurring part of her life. When you ask “Tell me about a time” questions, don’t judge the response on the quality of its detail. If you do, you will end up evaluating whether the person is articulate or whether the person has a good memory, rather than whether he or she has the particular recurring talent you want.

Instead, judge the response on whether it was specific and top of mind.

(Of course, with either 1 or 2, if you want to ask more questions to satisfy your own curiosity, go ahead. But remember, even if she eventually provides you with a detailed example, the fact that she required two or three probes to dredge it up tells you that the behavior is not a recurring part of her life.)

4. CLUES TO TALENT

Aside from specific examples of past behavior, what else should you be listening for? Are there any other signs that can tip you off that the candidate does indeed possess the talents you are looking for?

Over the years we have found many small clues to a person’s talent: a sudden glimpse of excellence at the role, a yearning toward certain activities, a feeling of flow while performing the activity. Of all these clues, two might be useful to you during the talent interview. Each person is so complex that no interviewing or testing system will ever be able to define his profile of talents perfectly. However, if you focus your questions toward these clues, then, like an image on a fresh Polaroid, the person’s most dominant talents should gradually emerge. You can then compare his talents to those in your desired profile and assess the match.

a. Rapid Learning

When you learn a new role, you tend to learn it in terms of steps. Sometimes the steps stay with you no matter how hard you practice. For example, you may have been giving presentations for years, but you still struggle. Every time you have to present you revert back to the three basic steps you remember from public speaking class: “Okay, first I must tell them what I am going to tell them; then I must tell them; then I must tell them what I just told them.”

But with other activities, the steps just seem to fall away. You feel a sense of gliding, of smoothness. For example, after a couple of months as a salesperson you may have begun to feel this smoothness. All of a sudden you seemed to be able to see inside the mind of the prospect and you knew almost instinctively what words to say next. Or perhaps as a student teacher, after your initial nervousness had faded, the names of the children came easily and you found yourself walking up and down the rows of desks as if you had been teaching all of your life.

When you have this feeling it is as if the steps of the new role are simply giving form to a mental pattern already grooved within you—which, if you think about it, they are.

Rapid learning is an important clue to a person’s talent. Ask the candidate what kinds .of roles she has been able to learn quickly. Ask her what activities come easily to her now. She will give you more clues to her talent.

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