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I guess that this test is useful for managers who don't understand the details of the work that is required to accomplish the task. If you actually know what it

I guess that this test is useful for managers who don't understand the details of the work that is required to accomplish the task. If you actually know what it takes to get the job done then you don't need an orange juice test; you can do proper due diligence by asking difficult domain-specific questions. This article highlights the problem that managers today don't have sufficient domain knowledge to do their jobs properly so they're forced to rely on dumbed-down heuristics in order to make decisions. The problem with such superficial approach is that there will always be people who know how to game it. There are a lot of people whose only talent is showing you exactly what you want to see. Also, on the other end of the spectrum, such heuristics tend to unjustly filter out extreme performers/outliers. These kinds of dumbed-down heuristics are a big reason why our current economic system is so unfair and inefficient. If you want to get to the meat, you have to crack through the shell first.

horsawlarway 8y ago
I don't really think you understood this idea. Within the context of conference hosting, serving large glasses of freshly squeezed orange juice to that number of people WAS a difficult domain specific question. He's less interested in the specifics of the answer to the question than he is in the thought process of the person answering it. Did they immediately say yes without considering it? If so they're conning you. They haven't thought out the problem and acknowledged the difficulty, so they'll say yes to anything, even though they can't deliver. Did they immediately say no, it's impossible? If so they're probably sub-par. They can't see a way to accomplish a difficult but achievable task. The WHOLE point of the question is judging whether the other party actually understands the domain well enough to recognize when a task is difficult, and then follow up by acknowledging that and asking better questions (like: What's your budget for that? Because it will be hard). The rest of your comment is spinning off into uselessness.

horsawlarway 8y ago

I don't really think you understood this idea. Within the context of conference hosting, serving large glasses of freshly squeezed orange juice to that number of people WAS a difficult domain specific question. He's less interested in the specifics of the answer to the question than he is in the thought process of the person answering it. Did they immediately say yes without considering it? If so they're conning you. They haven't thought out the problem and acknowledged the difficulty, so they'll say yes to anything, even though they can't deliver. Did they immediately say no, it's impossible? If so they're probably sub-par. They can't see a way to accomplish a difficult but achievable task. The WHOLE point of the question is judging whether the other party actually understands the domain well enough to recognize when a task is difficult, and then follow up by acknowledging that and asking better questions (like: What's your budget for that? Because it will be hard). The rest of your comment is spinning off into uselessness.