Why: Failure reveals character. Blame reveals weakness. Ownership reveals strength.

Here's what's happening: you're interviewing. You ask about failure. They tell a story.

Listen carefully.
Do they say "we failed" or "I failed"?
Do they blame the market, the boss, the team?
Or do they say "I screwed up, here's what I learned"?
That's the difference between someone who owns outcomes and someone who hides behind excuses.

The cost? If you hire blamers, you'll have a team of excuse-makers.
No one will own anything. When things go wrong, everyone will point fingers.
Your culture will rot.
If you hire owners, you'll have a team that owns outcomes.
They'll fix problems instead of explaining them.
Your culture will be strong.

This question sorts them. Use it.
The best people own their failures.
They learned from them.

The worst people have a story about why it wasn't their fault.

Action: Add this to every interview today: "Tell me about a time you failed. What did you do after?"

Listen for ownership.
Hire the ones who own it.
Pass on the ones who blame.
Watch for patterns: "My boss didn't support me," "The team wasn't aligned," "The market shifted." Those are red flags.

Green flags: "I made a bad call," "I didn't see the problem early enough," "I learned to..."

Stay Unfiltered,
— Andy

P.S. Leaders inevitably stop trusting their team, and get stung by it. Ask about the pain they felt when they stopped trusting their team.

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