If one interviewer, alone in a room, ever asked you to describe your work philosophy, the question would be considered a “softball.” What makes this type of question significantly harder in the presence of two interviewers, is the speed with which the bad cop can take any answer that you give and turn it around, adding a negative spin to it. The only thing to do is to get into the game. “Spin his spin” into a reply that makes both interviewers admire your finesse.
154a.
Good Cop Q: Where do you see yourself in five years?A.
Working for both you and Peter at this excellent organization, but promoted to VP level. I look forward to having two bosses with two very different management techniques, and know that it will enable me to learn twice as much twice as fast.154b.
Bad Cop Q: What if you work here for five years and don’t get promoted? Many of our employees aren’t. Won’t you find it frustrating?A.
Well, I consider myself ambitious, Peter, but I’m also practical. As long as I am continuing to learn and grow within my position, I’ll be a happy camper. Different companies promote people at different rates, and I’m pretty confident that working for you and Peggy will keep me motivated and mentally stimulated for several years to come.155a.
Good Cop Q: How would you describe your work philosophy?A.
I consider myself an “architect of the future.” As the leader on the ZZT business, I reengineered our company from scratch. I created teams of people that exactly mirrored the way that ZZT was structured. There was a key contact person on each team who coordinated with their opposite number at ZZT.Every Tuesday, I would meet individually with each contact person, get a status update, and zero in on the projects that needed my guidance. A few days later, I would circle back to the person in charge to give him strategic direction. The process worked brilliantly, and ZZT rewarded our company with so much new business, that I was forced to hire additional teams to service it.
155b.
Bad Cop Q: But we’re not looking for leaders, because May and I will be leading thetroops. We really need someone to manage the process.
A.
Well, several years of being in a leadership position have also strengthened my management skills. I’m a quick study and understand corporate directives. With you and May at the helm, I will be able to concentrate on nailing the details of any project that you give me. I work well with others, and know that for your team structure to succeed, we will all have to pull together seamlessly. Can you tell me more about the way that you’ve structured the SJN business? I’ve been following it in the trades, and am very excited about your team’s progress so far.Why This Technique Works
1. At your last company, you were a manager who was promoted to a leadership position, but for this job, you’d have to be a manager again.
2. By describing how you rolled up your shirtsleeves and helped your managers do the heavy lifting, it’s obvious that, even as a leader, you had a “hands-on” management style.
The 3 Rules of Playing Good Cop/Bad Cop
1. The Good Cop and Bad Cop may seem like they’re polar opposites, but always remember that they’re on the same team. It’s your job to prove that you can get along with both cops.
2. When you’re meeting with two interviewers at the same time, you’re twice as likely to have your interview in a sterile conference room rather than in one of their own offices. The good news is: because both bosses are hanging out together in a place where important meetings are held, phone call interruptions are relatively rare. Take advantage of their undivided attention to present your case with maximum impact.
3 . If the two cops appear to be exchanging glances with each other, or even speaking to each other in code, just pretend that you’re unaware of it. They’ve probably been working together for years and, like an old married couple, have simply developed their own shorthand communication.
156a.
Good Cop Q: Did you ever have to conform to a policy with which you did not agree?A.
Yes. There was a “problem employee” who thought he was doing a great job simply because he would come in three weekends out of four to clear the work off his desk. He would also complain about all of the “unpaid overtime” he was putting in. My bosses and I, however, were gravely concerned that he needed so much time to complete his tasks. Honestly, work was slow, things werelight, and we weren’t terribly busy. We were worried that when September rolled around, our busiest season by far, this employee would not be able to complete his projects.
I really wanted to call him in before his review, discuss the situation, and figure out why he was taking forever to complete his assignments. Was he just slow? Or was he a diehard workaholic who always had to appear busy? My bosses urged me to wait until the formal review period. Naturally, I respected their wishes. The guy ended up getting a terrible evaluation and was canned on the spot, with no warning.
156b.
Bad Cop Q: By acquiescing to your bosses’ demands, do you feel like you took the easy way out?A.
Not at all, Ross. I called a meeting with both of my bosses, and expressed my feelings. They explained that the company had to protect itself from lawsuits, and that I should just follow “the company way.” I decided that they probably had a valid point, and so I simply did what I was told.Why This Technique Works
1. You were a great employee who wanted to help a struggling colleague perform better.
2. When you were prohibited from following your heart, you used your head and listened to reason.
157a.
Good Cop Q: If you could do it all over, what would you do differently?A.
I would get my MBA immediately, right after college. I know that it’s politically incorrect to admit it these days, but an MBA puts you on a whole different career track from day one. You get paid more money, you get into better “tracking” programs, you advance more quickly up the corporate ladder, and you’re given meatier, more interesting projects from the get-go.157b.
Bad Cop Q: So, does that depress you…that you can’t start over again?A.
Oh, no, I didn’t mean to imply that! I’m very happy with where I am. I started my career at the best management consulting firm in the world. They had an awesome training program, and helped me get my MBA. It is true that I’ve had to work a lot harder over the years, just to stay even with those guys who got their MBAs right out of college. Still, I kept my nose to the grindstone and prevailed.But as a Harvard alum, I do a little recruiting for the undergraduate school. And whenever I meet with these bright, enterprising students, I always advise them to graduate from Harvard, and then go directly to business school. After all, if they get their MBAs immediately, they’ll have faster, smoother, easier career rides. Can you tell me a little more about the opportunities at your firm for
someone at my level?
Why This Technique Works
1. You had to work harder to prove yourself because you didn’t get your MBA right out of school.
2. You’re smart, civic-minded, and executive suite–bound.
158a.
Good Cop Q: Are you more comfortable dealing with concrete, tangible issues or more abstract, conceptual issues?A.
Well, a concrete, tangible issue has a set of boundaries. There’s a defined measuring stick, and therefore, a benchmark that you can leap over. A good example is the time when I was asked to help our diamond store client increase retail sales by 25 percent. That seemed like a reasonable goal, but through in-store promotions, sponsorships, and urban guerrilla marketing drives for “Self-Esteem Day”—a holiday that I actually invented to get women to buy diamonds for themselves—I was able to help our client improve sales by 30 percent.158b.
Bad Cop Q: So does that mean that you’re bad at dealing with abstract, conceptual issues?A.
No. But by their nature, they’re just more open-ended, so it’s a bit tricky to talk about hard results. One of the stores that I used to consult for sold fashionable dresses in plus-16 sizes. For a long time, they had no real competition. There were other stores that sold women’s clothing in these sizes, but their merchandise was more mass market and a lot less stylish. Then one day a rival store, selling plus-16 sizes in fashion-forward cuts, opened around the corner.Overnight, my client’s brand had to be totally repositioned. After a lot of brainstorming, we decided to start a “Femme-Plus” club. It wasn’t just a club “on paper”—giving rewards for buying the clothing. It was an actual, physical club where shoppers could meet, bond, drink coffee, catch up on their email, even drop off their kids at the daycare center. The Femme Plus clubs generated a lot of positive word-of-mouth for the stores.
159a.
Good Cop Q: How do you measure success?A.
I used to measure my success purely in terms of profit and loss. On the great balance sheet of life, I looked first at the money that I made personally, and then at the money that I saved for my clients. But September 11th was a real wake up call for me. I decided that it was also imperative to love what I do. We live in a new era where we can’t be 100 percent certain what tomorrow will bring. So these days, I spend a lot more time trying to have some fun on the job and bringing a spiritof playfulness into the office.