How Would You Move Mount Fuji?

How Would You Move Mount Fuji?: Microsoft’s Cult of the Puzzle – How the World’s Smartest Companies Select the Most Creative Thinkers
by William Poundstone

For a number of reasons, today’s hiring managers from Wall Street to the Silicon Valley are totally restructuring their approach to interviewing job prospects. Few will admit it has anything to do with the fact that our litigious society makes it very difficult to ask almost any personal question of today’s job applicant. The majority of those interviewing today don’t even bother checking references because they know anyone they call will provide little or no information on the employee in question for fear of legal retribution. Again, few will admit these facts for obvious reasons. However, for these and other motives including a hypercompetitive global marketplace, a hot new trend in hiring is emerging. “Puzzle interviews” using tough and tricky questions to gauge job candidates’ intelligence, imagination, and problem-solving ability, are becoming the norm in many companies.

This book is a study of corporate hiring, an assessment of IQ testing’s value, a history of interviewing and a puzzle book. The author, William Poundstone, is a science writer who explains the thinking behind this kind of interviewing. In a straightforward manner, the author describes the roots of logic questions in interviews, drawing on the history of IQ testing in hiring interviews, psychological studies and interviews with Microsoft ex-interviewers and interviewees. He certainly makes a strong case for eliminating standard questions like “What are your strengths and weaknesses?” and replacing them with logic puzzles.

For years, Microsoft’s interview process has included a notoriously grueling sequence of brain-busting questions that separate the most creative thinkers from the merely brilliant. Anyone who’s interviewed for a job at Microsoft is intimately familiar with questions like the one in this book’s title (How would you move Mount Fuji?). They’ve probably also pondered such problems as:

• Why are manhole covers round?
• How do they make M&Ms?
• What does all the ice in a hockey rink weigh?
• How many piano tuners are there in the world?

Questions like these, which test problem-solving abilities, not specific competencies, are commonplace during job interviews at Microsoft and the many other firms who have adapted this unique approach.

Basically, this book is separated into two parts: The first discusses the history of puzzles and their intellectual and academic standing. This section starts off by narrating the origin of puzzle-solving as a criterion for selecting people; then, it talks about how and why many companies use them in interviews. Poundstone talks about the general approaches to solving puzzles, and then closes on a note for employers on how to design puzzles that are useful.

The second part of the book is strict puzzle solving. The book has plenty of puzzles scattered through it and two chapters devoted solely to listing puzzles. The author goes on to discuss the puzzles he has listed and suggests thought processes about how to solve them. This exposition is more interesting than it sounds. Poundstone not only explains his answers thoroughly, but also uncovers many layers of thinking that show the complexity and beauty of the art of solving puzzles.

Almost half of the book is devoted to an “answer” section, where Poundstone gives possible solutions to the brainteasers. Although it lacks a specific focus, this is a fun, revealing take on an unusual subject.

This book will give interviewers insights into what kind of questions to ask, and why. You should probably read this book if you fall into one of the categories below:

• Prospective interviewees for High Tech, consulting or financial services companies. It won’t give you all the answers to memorize, but it will let you in on the puzzle genre and some of its “rules.”
• Interviewers/HR – If you are looking to employ puzzle-type questions to hire creative employees, this will give you some insights into what questions to use and why. There are probably better books on the intricacies of interviewing, but this will give you the background needed to use puzzles in the interview process (if you decide that’s what you need.)
• People interested in problem solving, puzzles and creativity. This covers a lot of ground in these areas and it gives you a few references for further reading.

(This book review was originally published in 2003 as one of the Top 10 Books – Edition 12.)