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We french have an expression for that: "l'esprit de l'escalier", literally "staircase spirit". It's meant to characterize people who think about what they sho

We french have an expression for that: "l'esprit de l'escalier", literally "staircase spirit". It's meant to characterize people who think about what they should have said/answered only when on their way out, in the staircases. I think I work this way. Maybe it's a way to ignore my lack of wit, my slow paced brain, and to maintain some self esteem.

vijucat 8y ago
Ha, wonderful expression, thanks. Given that many people report that their best thinking is done while walking or taking a jog, it might not be too wild to try out interviews which allow the candidate to take a walk before they give an answer.
- em-bee 8y ago
  that's an interesting idea. how can we implement that without it becoming awkward? the problem i see is this: it is unexpected, so the interviewee doesn't know what to make of that offer. i don't know how much time to give them, and they don't know how much time they need. they also don't know how much time they should take. i don't even know if they are the type that likes to take a quiet time to think. if they aren't then that offer could come across as a suggestion that their answer is wrong and they should think about it more. at best it would be some institutionalized coffee-break, like we do the interview in two parts, first we are doing a bunch of exercises, then we take a break and after the break we do something else, but the interviewee is offered to add thoughts on the exercises that they may have come up with during the break.
  - andrewflnr 8y ago
    The solution to unexpectedness is to tell them up front what you're going to offer. With that in mind, I like the idea of the "coffee break" where you're allowed to wander off. Of course, you can also just leave the room while they're working on it.
ordu 8y ago
I'm like this and I know why it happens for me. I cannot think my thoughts while listening to others. Either I'm listening, or I'm thinking, I cannot do both at once. I can follow others and sometime I can make a contribution, but it would be a small contribution, a deal less than I could do given a time to think. I tried to find some way around it, and the only way I see is to learn how to think loudly. The only way is to supress others from thinking by speaking aloud my thoughts as they come. Let others follow my thoughts, not the other way around. I figured it out while making some group work with ~20 yo students being a student myself. I'm older (I was 35-40 over that period) and therefore smarter and in the most cases I was able to do this group work myself a way better then they do. I tried different approaches. I tried to take a leader role in a discussion and to talk everytime I feel like this. I tried to let someone else to become a leader and to follow her. I tried to just get out of the discussion, to sit quietly with my own thoughts and to come with my own solution to compare it with the group one. The conclusion is: I cannot think AND listen at the same time.

vijucat 8y ago

Ha, wonderful expression, thanks. Given that many people report that their best thinking is done while walking or taking a jog, it might not be too wild to try out interviews which allow the candidate to take a walk before they give an answer.

em-bee 8y ago
that's an interesting idea. how can we implement that without it becoming awkward? the problem i see is this: it is unexpected, so the interviewee doesn't know what to make of that offer. i don't know how much time to give them, and they don't know how much time they need. they also don't know how much time they should take. i don't even know if they are the type that likes to take a quiet time to think. if they aren't then that offer could come across as a suggestion that their answer is wrong and they should think about it more. at best it would be some institutionalized coffee-break, like we do the interview in two parts, first we are doing a bunch of exercises, then we take a break and after the break we do something else, but the interviewee is offered to add thoughts on the exercises that they may have come up with during the break.
- andrewflnr 8y ago
  The solution to unexpectedness is to tell them up front what you're going to offer. With that in mind, I like the idea of the "coffee break" where you're allowed to wander off. Of course, you can also just leave the room while they're working on it.

ordu 8y ago

I'm like this and I know why it happens for me. I cannot think my thoughts while listening to others. Either I'm listening, or I'm thinking, I cannot do both at once. I can follow others and sometime I can make a contribution, but it would be a small contribution, a deal less than I could do given a time to think. I tried to find some way around it, and the only way I see is to learn how to think loudly. The only way is to supress others from thinking by speaking aloud my thoughts as they come. Let others follow my thoughts, not the other way around. I figured it out while making some group work with ~20 yo students being a student myself. I'm older (I was 35-40 over that period) and therefore smarter and in the most cases I was able to do this group work myself a way better then they do. I tried different approaches. I tried to take a leader role in a discussion and to talk everytime I feel like this. I tried to let someone else to become a leader and to follow her. I tried to just get out of the discussion, to sit quietly with my own thoughts and to come with my own solution to compare it with the group one. The conclusion is: I cannot think AND listen at the same time.