The day was set up as a comprehensive interview session for Ted. A few people from the field and Clare would be meeting with him individually during the morning, followed by a one-on-one lunch meeting with Jeff. He made it clear that the primary goal would be to discern whether Ted was humble and hungry, having already determined that he was smart.

Ted's first interview would be with Craig, the foreman from the Oak Ridge project, so Jeff arranged to meet Craig an hour early to help him understand how he might go about evaluating Ted for the two desired virtues. Jeff conceded that this might be difficult, since he didn't really have great working definitions for what those words meant from an observable, behavioral point of view.

Jeff's instructions for Craig were simple. “Just try to get a sense for whether he wants to keep working hard, whether he still has the desire to commit himself to the job, or whether this is simply a distraction from his retirement boredom.”

Craig wrote that down. “I get it. What about humble?”

“Well, use your judgment. You know what someone looks like who isn't humble, right?”

Craig smiled. “Bobby would probably call him a jackass.”

Jeff laughed. “Bobby is remarkably consistent in his language, isn't he?”

Craig asked Jeff another question. “So what kinds of things would you look for, in terms of humility?”

Jeff didn't hesitate. “Like I said, I think it's more about looking for indications that he's not humble. Arrogance. Condescension. Dismissiveness. Self-centeredness.”

Craig made a few notes. “Makes sense. So, do you want me to come see you tomorrow to tell you what I think?”

Jeff's eyes went wide. “No way. I want to hear from you as soon as you're done.”

Craig seemed a little surprised, so Jeff explained. “I need to know what you learned, so I can figure out what to look for in my lunch interview. And I might even give the other morning interviewers some of your insights to help them drill down harder in the right areas.”

“Wow.” Craig was impressed. “You're not messing around.”

Jeff smiled. “Can't afford to mess around. Too much on the line here.”

Craig frowned. “I don't want to be pushy here, Jeff.” He hesitated.

“What? Ask me anything.”

“You said there's too much on the line. Is there something I don't know about?”

Jeff hesitated for a second, considering how much to tell Craig. “Okay. Here's the thing. We've got so much work coming up, and we need to do a crap load of hiring.”

Craig nodded, unsurprised.

“Which means we have to find people who aren't going to create problems out in the field.”

Craig smiled and shook his head. “I know something about that.”

“Exactly. Imagine what will happen if we keep having problems like that next year.”

Craig seemed to get it. “Oak Ridge is killing me. I don't think I'd make it if things got worse.”

Jeff smiled, but not in a joyful way. “Exactly. And if this guy, Ted, isn't all about teamwork, if he doesn't eat, sleep, and breathe humility and hunger, there is no way all the people working for him will. And he won't hire those kinds of people either.”

Craig started thumbing through his notes. “So, let's go over this again. I need to ask—”

Jeff interrupted him, almost laughing. “Relax, you don't have to figure it all out yourself. Other people are going to be meeting with him, too. Just go over what we talked about and let me know what you think when you're done.”

“Got it.” Craig seemed relieved.

At that moment, Kim, the receptionist and HR assistant, came into the office. “Excuse me. Ted Marchbanks is waiting.”