What will be on your tombstone?

Way back at the turn of the New Year, The New York Times Corner Office Q&A featured John Donovan, the chief technology officer at AT&T. Asked about the interview question he always poses, Donovan remarked that he asks the applicant to think of their professional colleagues, and the three words — literally three words — that they would put on the applicant's tombstone. His follow-up, he says, is always a surprise to the applicant: "Instead of three, what's the one word?" Why ask these questions? Here is Donovan: "I've tried to assemble teams with people who were grounded enough, and comfortable enough, to be able to have these kinds of conversations. When you find people who have that sort of grounding, then it can be about the problem you're working to solve together, and not about the person." Come to think of it, his go-to interview queries are two good questions to ask ourselves.