Key Takeaways
- The best predictor of future behavior is specific past behavior in similar circumstances.
- Self-awareness is the meta-skill that amplifies every other skill.
- References that are truly candid are rare but more valuable than any interview.
Saim Abbasi has hired, partnered with, and invested alongside hundreds of people over his career. The evaluation process that has served him best is built around a specific set of principles that come from observing which predictions about people proved accurate and which did not.
Specific Past Behavior
The interview question that produces the most useful information is always behavioral and specific: describe the most difficult interpersonal conflict you had at your last company, how it developed, and how it resolved. The specificity prevents generic answers. The interpersonal dimension reveals how the person navigates situations where the right answer is not clear.
People who answer this question with a story where they handled it perfectly and the other person was clearly wrong are giving a rehearsed answer. People who answer with a story that includes genuine uncertainty about whether they handled it right are revealing the self-awareness that actually predicts good performance in complex situations.
The Self-Awareness Signal
Self-awareness is the single quality Saim weighs most heavily in any person evaluation. A highly skilled person without self-awareness will repeatedly make the same mistakes because they cannot see them. A less-skilled person with high self-awareness will improve rapidly because they accurately diagnose their own gaps and work on them. The combination of skill and self-awareness is the highest investment-grade human capital.
True Reference Calls
The reference calls that provide real information are not the ones conducted with references provided by the candidate. They are the calls conducted with people who worked alongside the candidate, found independently, who will give candid assessments because they have no obligation to the person being evaluated. These calls require more work to arrange and provide considerably more signal than the standard reference check.
"The question is not how someone performs under ideal conditions. Everyone performs under ideal conditions."