A Time Your First Technical Approach Failed and How You Changed Course

In two minutes or less, talk through a time your initial approach to a technical problem did not work. How did you recognize that, and what did you do next? This was asked in a one-way recorded video interview: you answer to a camera, with no interviewer to ask questions or prompt you. ```hint The moment you noticed The core of this answer is how you recognized the approach was failing. Name the evidence you saw, and how early you saw it, rather than a general feeling. ``` ```hint Make the first approach reasonable Explain in a sentence why the first approach looked right at the time, so that changing course reads as judgment rather than as a mistake you should have avoided. ``` ### Constraints - One recorded answer of two minutes or less, with no live follow-up: the answer has to stand on its own. - The prompt asks three things: what the initial approach was and that it did not work, how you recognized it, and what you did next. ### Clarifying Questions Nobody can answer these during a one-way recording, so settle them for yourself before you start: - Which story has a clear signal that the approach was failing, rather than one where the plan simply changed? - Was the problem you choose technical enough for the prompt, and can you explain it in a sentence to someone outside your team? - What did you do differently afterwards, and can you show that the second approach worked? ### What a Strong Answer Covers - A real technical problem and a first approach that was reasonable given what was known - The concrete evidence that showed it was not working, and how quickly it was caught - The decision to change course: the options considered, how one was chosen, and who was told - What was done next and the result, with evidence - What the candidate now does differently because of it - Owns the misstep without blaming others, within two minutes ### Follow-up Questions - What did the failed attempt cost, and could you have discovered the problem earlier? - Was there pressure to persist with the original approach? How did you weigh the work already done? - How did you explain the change of plan to teammates or stakeholders who were relying on the original one? - Tell me about a time you changed course too early, or kept going too long. What would have told you sooner?