Think Outside the Box
In Buzz Marketing | 26 comments | permalink
Today I am going to share with you a question I was asked in a job interview 8 years ago. This question really inspired me and changed my outlook on the way I thought and approached problems.
Question: You are driving along in your car on a wild, stormy night, it’s raining heavily, when suddenly you pass by a bus stop, and you see three people waiting for a bus:
1) An old lady who looks as if she is about to die,
2) An old friend who once saved your life,
3) The perfect partner you have been dreaming about.
Which one would you choose to offer a ride to if there could only be one passenger in your car?
This is a moral/ethical dilemma, so let’s look at the options that were in my head at the time:
* You could pick up the old lady, because she is going to die, and thus you should save her first;
* or you could take the old friend because he once saved your life, and this would be the perfect chance to pay him back.
* However, you may never be able to find your perfect mate again.
I won’t tell you what answer I gave, but needless to say, I didn’t get the job. But I was intrigued, so I called back a week later and asked what the right answer was…
Here is what they told me:
The candidate who was hired gave this answer:
“I would give the car keys to my Old friend and let him take the lady to the hospital. I would stay behind and wait for the bus with the partner of my dreams.”
Sometimes, we gain more if we are able to give up our stubborn thought limitations. Never forget to “Think Outside the Box.”
Dean
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26 COMMENTS
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Haha I got the answer by accident when I first heard this question. I blurted out the answer as a joke and surprisingly it was right. xD
never thought of that… I love this story..will share it with others..
Brilliant! I used to have a Sunday School teacher who always gave us a puzzle like this every week before he started class…they definitely teach you to find alternative solutions!
wow, that has to be the greatest answer ever to be serious if it was me I would have token the friend, but doing what the guy answered never even crossed my mind
Because there is no one around me to brag to I would just like to say I got it right.
Box - 0 Craig - 1
Hmm, my first instinct was ’save the old lady’, but then I thought this question isn’t as straightforward as it looks. So I decided: if my old friend had the skills to save my life, then he can save the old lady’s. So I’ll pick up the perfect partner knowing the old lady’s in good hands.
My answer would have been that I would drive by real fast and splash them all—looking back in my rear view mirror and laughing like a hyena.
Did the interviewer ask you if you were
Dean of Nazareth?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0pqgAu3lD0
I must admit, I was asked the very same question at a job interview for a web dev position at an insurance company. Seeing as I had heard this before, I awnserd with the “outside the box” awnser, but still didn’t get the job.
What a load of pahil.
I really should think before answering these questions, i always get caught out
“Hmm, my first instinct was ’save the old lady’, but then I thought this question isn’t as straightforward as it looks. So I decided: if my old friend had the skills to save my life, then he can save the old lady’s. So I’ll pick up the perfect partner knowing the old lady’s in good hands.”
Yeh, my answer too
Yeah, I thought of that before reading the final answer haha…why not give the keys to the partner to take the old lady to the hospital and me to stay with my dream partner
What were the old friend, dream partner doing about the old lady?
Maybe the dream partner was together with the ld friend.
These are such stuid questions. They have nothing to do with reality and certainly do not reflect any personality trait.
If one was so shallow as to stay with the dream partner while your friend took the old lady to hospital, where does that place your mentality?
An egoist that thinks about his/her own pleausre.
Would you be wondering about the old lady? You give the responsibility to someone else. What is this?
The first instinct and the ONLY instinct is to take
the old lady to hospital. Never mind the lateral thinking; Take the woman to hospital!!!! Easy.
The problem with the World today is people trying to think phycologically. Placed there by people who wouldn’t know how to do the job themselves!
No Good old common sense; justain’t common anymore is it?
The Baldchemist
Most interesting to me are many of the
sardonic comment to the post.
Interesting group of readers
Yes its interesting. Give the answer that the questioner wants and you get the job. But what does it say about your skills? What do the answers indicate?
Where do they place someone who answers with the humane?
It would seem to me that anyone wanting the “correct answer” needs an egoist and selfish bastard of the highest order. Who would work for a company that relied on set questions; that you may know in advance.
Judgement! Priceless skill.
The Baldchemist, getting all the joy out of everyday.
Just an addendum; Read Edward de Bono. An “expert” on out of the box thinking. The same man who gave George W Bush his line of thinking. QED. The Baldchemist
Just wanted to say that my husband of 38 years - Charlie has been thinking outside the box for years. He always tries to think of all the angles. I must say though he messed up big time on the 5 question test.
I still love him though…we are new to all of this stuff and learning soooo much I think at times my head will bust.
Something tells me that the “baldchemist was not able to come up with an answer. Why else would someone become be so agitated over a dam question. Perhaps his girlfriend left him for someone she met at the bus stop.
I’d say none of them, otherwise I’d be late for work hehe
That is a great answer. I like to believe that I think outside of the box, but I never came close to that answer. John
Who says the friend is able to drive?
I’d probably stay with the old lady while she died and give my buddy the keys to my car and watch him drive off with my dream lady. Then the cops would pin me with the old gals death and I’d end up frying in the electric chair still cold and wet from the rain.
But that’s just how things go for me.
A very sweet little quiz. I’ll remember it for a long time. A Stumble for your efforts.
I got it completely wrong. I was going to say I was going to duct tape the other two to the hood of the car. oh well
My first thought would be - damn, why am I driving a car that can’t carry 3 passengers?
haha, nice one Ian