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Words. Wisdom. Winners.
The final interview round
Considering my “fancy title”, most candidates I meet everyday have already gone through multiple technical and qualifier interview rounds. I am fortunate to meet the best of the crowd.
And I am entrusted upon conducting the “final interview round” – also fashionably termed as the “culture round”!
3 questions make up this round for me
What’s the riskiest thing you have done in life
This is a powerful question. It not just allows the candidate to lower their guard, but also beautifully gives an insight into the risk appetite of the individual.
Most people stick to the basics – rafting, bungee jumping, crossing the road in Delhi!
And some are fascinating – changing my industry, coming back from the US, becoming an entrepreneur, participating in a singing competition.
A 10-min conversation following this question almost always gives me a clear idea of where the candidate belongs in their worldview.
The best response I recall was – marrying my love against my parents wishes.
Brutal honesty! And tells me so much about the individual to even speak about this in an interview.
If you didn’t have to earn for money, say you had plenty of it, what would you do in life?
This is a really hard question. And shopping is the worst response!
The question allows most candidates to explore what is it that they really like doing. Is it painting, singing, teaching, traveling?
Magically, the candidate is forced to say the truth and nothing else but the truth. And the truth is all that the final round needs. One of the best responses I have received was – “I would spend my time visiting universities across the world and attending their best rated courses!”
Wow!
How many unread emails in your inbox as of today?
I know it’s anal and this question is so me. But it does have a very strong proxy with how organized the individual is. That said, I have several examples where non-organized people excel supremely.
I am simply biased by the notion that being organized is definitely a more positive indicator of delivery (not really performance).
God-awesome response – “today is 12 hours old. Can you be a little more specific!”
Hired, I say! :)
Would love to add more questions to this kitty. Please do share
Let me get back to you on this
This is a statement you will rarely, If not never, hear at a startup.
And this statement forms the basis of most conversations in a large company.
I have come to realize – the reason large companies are so slow to move is because they tolerate the existence of excuses.
Excuses for not being able to deliver
Excuses for inaction
Excuses for not taking charge
Excuses for not deciding then and there!
Whosoever you are – no matter how big or small – don’t ever create an environment where excuses are easy to discover. Only then will you have a “let me get back to you on this” free world!
Who are you meeting today?
Nothing, NOTHING AT ALL, does more to developing a relationship than meeting someone in person and talking!
No amount of flowers
No amount of pleasant emails
No calls
Nothing
Humans are meant to meet, to converse using emotions. And if you have to apologize, congratulate, resolve, clarify or update – and you can do it in person – do it!
What does it take to win?
Perseverence…
Ajay Singh tells me that this deal took him 1.5 years to close! I would believe him anyday…
There was a time we used to run 1 deal for 3 days, because we didnt have many. Today the site has 950+ deals at any stage. All of them deals that we ourselves will buy.
There was no other path for us to get here. No money, no shortcut, no business model could have made us reach here faster – than the path we took. It is the hardest path – and is hasnt been easy. But its been the best journey we all could have wished for.
I am super proud of what and where we are today.
Varq, at the Taj Mahal Hotel New Delhi, featured on Groupon India
Your job is not to be nice to people…
Your job is to get the work done.
If during the process of doing so, you end up being nice to people (and people realize that), you are blessed. Not a lot of people can claim to be in such a position.
But one cannot CANNOT over-rule the job, in favor of being nice to people
The single most important advice to Graduate Students
One of the commandments that Groupon India operates by is
Value accuracy more than speed and speed more than perfection
In all your actions, accuracy of your work is more important than being the fastest to complete. Or fastest to respond. If you work has errors, it might as well be delayed but 100% accurate.
However, if you continue to make it 100% perfect, you are losing precious time and feedback. Speed is the most important attribute in decision-making and execution. And while it cannot come at the expense of accuracy, it should always come at the expense of perfection.
Back in August 2011, I had come up with this alongwith the other commandments. And this is perhaps the one I am proudest of – so much so that I surprise myself to have come up with this.
There isn’t a single day that goes by when I am not reminded or more convinced of this commandment. Decisions that are delayed, because people think they need more time. Errors crept in because people think responding to the email is more important. Processes not implemented because they are not perfect yet. Sheets of inaccurate data because someone said it has to be done in the next hour.
If there was only 1 advice that I could give to students in order to make them god-awesome professionals – this is it!
Appreciate accuracy, value time and dissociate perfection from accuracy.
Mistake of promoting someone
It is Appraisal month at Groupon. We had conducted the entire event last year in paper format and wanted to transfer all of it online.
In the hunt for a Performance Management Solution, we came across EmployWise – whom we have finally started working with. This is not an endorsement post, since we are yet to see its impact.
However, if their CEO’s words are anything to go by, it just might end up being a good move for us.
Sumeet Kapur, in our first meeting, made a point that I loved – it’s perhaps the single most obvious realization that I have had in the recent past.
“Never make the mistake of promoting someone based on their performance”
- The reward for performance should be monetary incentives
- A promotion, or the next level responsibility, is always a function of capability. Capability and performance are not always linked.
That makes SO much sense. It is not just a stark realization of the mistakes I have made in the past, but also such an obvious omission that happens every day, in every organization.
It is moments such as these, when I am reminded of what a close friend says all the time – “how can you not benefit from meeting people?”
The appraisals this year will be a very different exercise!
My experiment with lies
Though I love Quora, I see it tending towards the mass appeal category. Funny answers with no relevance to the question, celebrity responses much lower in quality, non-serious take on the questions – all these are drawing more votes than others. It doesn’t bother me on an intellectual level, but it does throw the answers I truly like below the order.
When I opened Quora last night I had a run of questions where the best answers where not even in the top 5-10 responses, pulled down by lower-quality-high-appeal answers.
I decided to conduct an experiment on one such question.
Posing anonymously, I replied on a life question, about something that didn’t happen to me. Rather my friend. However I replied as if it happened to me.
I lied!
But the incident is truly one of the best responses that could exist for that question. My experiment was – will it rise up the ranks, anonymously! No humor, definitely no celebrity. And no smart alec answer. Simple plain admission of an event in one’s life.
I woke up this morning to see the answer gone viral. 1400+ votes as of now, 53 heartwarming comments
The most touching aspect was people spending their credits to promote the answer. Whatever they had – people promoting it to 20 people – 40 people!
My experiment of lies succeeded. People exist!
Life is the best Social Network
“It would not have been possible without your help and guidance”
11 such statements have landed in my inbox since yesterday.
While grossly inaccurate in its assessment (would not have been possible), the intent is overwhelming to say the least. And that’s when it strikes you – while you are busy leading your own life your actions, your time, your responses and your statements are perhaps influencing others to lead theirs.
And that’s the same for you too.
And the same for your influencers too
And their’s too
Its the best social network – where no wall is needed, where sharing is inconspicuous and where you will most likely not be notified when you are tagged.
Life!
Emotions are precious
When was the last time you said, I love you
When was the last time you checked, are you doing ok?
When was the last time you acknowledged, I couldn’t have done this without you?
When was the last time you stated, thank god you were there?
When was the last time you expressed your emotions?
When was the last time you loved your own emotions?
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