After probing a candidate's past, 'flip the table' and present them with a current, real-world problem your company faces. This reveals their curiosity, analytical skills, and ability to engage with a new challenge on the spot, shifting from their prepared stories to raw problem-solving.

Senior commercial leaders are professional interviewers who excel at telling you what you want to hear. A hiring process based solely on conversation is flawed. To truly vet a candidate, you must incorporate exercises that force them to demonstrate their abilities and "show you the receipts" of their claims.

To find its first engineers, Boom invited several top candidates to a multi-day workshop to critique the entire business and technical plan. This "audition" not only generated valuable feedback but also revealed which candidates were the most collaborative and insightful thinkers.

A common hiring mistake is prioritizing a conversational 'vibe check' over assessing actual skills. A much better approach is to give candidates a project that simulates the job's core responsibilities, providing a direct and clean signal of their capabilities.

To assess critical thinking, send C-level candidates your board deck under NDA before the interview. Use the conversation to gauge their feedback. A candidate who only offers praise is a red flag; the best candidates will challenge your thinking and provide constructive criticism.

Instead of asking hypothetical questions, present senior candidates with a real, complex problem your business is currently facing. The worst case is free consulting; the best case is finding someone who can implement the solution they devise.

For leadership roles, the interview itself is a critical test. If the candidate isn't teaching you something new about their function, it's a red flag. A true leader should bring expertise that elevates your understanding. If you have to teach them, they will consume your time rather than create leverage.

For high-level leadership roles, skip hypothetical case studies. Instead, present candidates with your company's actual, current problems. The worst-case scenario is free, high-quality consulting. The best case is finding someone who can not only devise a solution but also implement it, making the interview process far more valuable.

Ineffective interviews try to catch candidates failing. A better approach models a collaborative rally: see how they handle challenging questions and if they can return the ball effectively. The goal is to simulate real-world problem-solving, not just grill them under pressure.