Page 97 - The McKinsey Mind

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72 The McKinsey Mind

Reflecting on his brief professional career, he realized that he was
so focused on setting and accomplishing goals that the finished
product had become an obsession. He had blinded himself to
everything that lay between him and the end result; he had forgot-
ten that there is not just the destination, there is also the journey.
We believe that task completion must be balanced with process
interaction; that means you should try to get things done without
stepping on people as you go. So it is with interviewing; relation-
ships matter. Think through your personal approach, and consider
expanding your capabilities if necessary.
Think through your daily schedule, and identify all of the
opportunities you have to obtain important information from peo-
ple and how you should relate to those people. Do you prepare
adequately to take full advantage of these opportunities? Do you
document what you learn, so you won’t forget it? As you think
through your schedule, try to find more time to listen and less to
speak.
After that recommendation, you might be hankering for some-
thing a bit less touchy-feely, a bit more concrete, so let’s move on
to the issue of structure. Earlier in this section, we discussed the
interview guide and gave you some examples. Structure doesn’t
end with the development of an interview guide, however. There
are two additional opportunities for “interview discipline”: pre-
interview communication and the post-interview follow-up.
You should send the interview guide (or a version of it) to the
interviewee well ahead of the interview. If you send it more than a
week in advance, it may make sense to resend the guide when you
confirm the appointment. This allows the interviewee to prepare
responses and identify additional support that may help you
immensely. Interviewees will also appreciate the courtesy, because,
let’s face it, most of us don’t like surprises. There are a few times to
bend this rule, of course. For example, in politically charged situ-
ations, you might not want to allow for preparation that may facil-