How would you answer this question – would you leave a friend standing in the rain? For this scenario, let’s assume that you are currently single and driving alone on a cold, rainy night. It’s dark, windy and the weather is miserable. As you slow down to make a turn, you see three people standing on the side of the road at a bus stop.
To your surprise, you recognize one of the people at the bus stop as a long-lost friend who saved your life years ago. Another person is a frail old lady who looks as if the force of the wind is going to blow her away – it’s clear that if she does not get out of this weather soon, she will die. The third person is the person of your dreams, the soulmate you were meant to spend the rest of your life with.
You want to help them all, but there is only room in your car for one other person. Which person would you choose to pick up? There is no right answer here. Someone is going to be hurt by your decision, and who you choose says a lot about you.
This hypothetical question is occasionally used in job interviews. It is a method of determining how candidates make decisions and the way they handle situations that are both difficult and stressful. This question was asked to seven candidates competing for the position of police chief for a large city. Six candidates made the difficult choice and rationalized their decisions to the interviewer. One candidate, however, stood well out from the others. He answered immediately, “I would get out of the car and hug my long-lost friend, hand him my keys, and ask him to drive the elderly lady to the hospital to receive the care she needed. And I would stand in the rain and wait for the bus with my future soulmate to begin our life together.”
A clever solution to the riddle, yes, but what can it teach us? The question implied that you could only provide for one person, but the winning candidate’s response shows that we often need to think outside the box in order to find solutions that can benefit everyone.
Similarly, people making financial decisions may benefit from an outside-the-box perspective. By seeking alternative points of view, you could expand your horizons and find better solutions.
