Leadership IQ’s principal, Mark Murphy, does believe in behavioral interviewing—asking questions of candidates that are designed to elicit information about how they handle various work situations. As he readily acknowledges, “Past behavior is a great predictor of future behavior.”

But he has found that the technique is often used improperly. He says, for example, that all the following questions, very common in behavioral interviews, are a bad idea:

• “Tell me about a time when you had to balance competing priorities and did so successfully.”
• “Tell me about a conflict with a co-worker and how you resolved it.”
• “Tell me about a time when you had to adapt to a difficult situation. What did you do?”
If you’re not immediately sure what’s wrong with those questions, try this one:
• “We have a very team-based culture here, so you’ve got good teamwork and collaboration skills, right?”

It’s pretty obvious that that’s a leading question, right? What candidate in his or her right mind would say, “No, I really prefer to work independently,” when you’ve already told the person what answer you want? But the first three questions are just as leading; they point the way just as clearly as the fourth one to the answer you’re looking for.

Think about it: In each of the first three cases, you’ve asked for stories about the candidate’s past successes. You want to know about when the person balanced priorities, resolved conflicts, and adapted to difficulties. See how selective the questions really are? As Murphy says, you’ll only hear about the one time he or she succeeded, resolved, and adapted—not about all the times the person did none of the above. The kinds of questions you should ask instead are objective, such as:

• “Tell me about a time when you lacked the skills or knowledge to complete an assignment.”

Think people won’t be honest? Murphy has found that they will, and he offers the following sample answers to that question:

• “Happened all the time; that’s why I’m interviewing with you guys.”
• “I told them to find somebody else.”
• “When I don’t know what to do, I’d rather do nothing at all.”
• “I just ignored their request.”

For better hires, try asking even-handed, objective questions.

Tip from Murphy: You want problem solvers in your organization, not problem bringers. So you need to ask the right questions to separate candidates into the right categories. He notes that an astounding 46 percent of new hires fail on the job within their first 18 months. And most fail because of attitude, not lack of skills or knowledge.