Decisive: How to Make Better Choices in Life and Work

by Chip Heath

Other people have reconsidered the kinds of questions they ask in reference calls. Rather than ask for an evaluation of the candidate (“Would you say Steve’s performance was closer to ‘stunning’ or ‘breathtaking’? Be honest.”), many firms now seek specific factual information. For example, Ray Rothrock, a venture capitalist with Venrock, says that one of the best diagnostic questions he’s discovered in assessing entrepreneurs is “How many secretaries has this entrepreneur had in the past few years?” If the answer is five, chances are you’ve got someone with some issues. This same strategy of fishing for specific information was endorsed in a brilliant article called “On Being a Happy, Healthy, and Ethical Member of an Unhappy, Unhealthy, and Unethical Profession,” published in 1999 by U.S. District Court judge Patrick J. Schiltz. In the piece, Schiltz urges law students to ask tough, disconfirming questions before taking a job with a big corporate law firm: Every big firm claims that it is different. Every big firm denies that it is a sweatshop. Every big firm insists that, although its attorneys work hard, they lead balanced lives. This is almost always false. It has to be. There is no free lunch.… Ask tough questions of the lawyers you meet. When you are at a recruiting dinner with a couple of lawyers from the firm, don’t just ask them, “So, do you folks have any kind of life outside of work?” They will chuckle, say “sure,” and ask if you want more wine. Instead, ask the...