I'm not speaking anatomically. In an interview situation, regardless of which side of the table you're sitting on, what can you ask to determine what type of person you're dealing with (on a personal level)?<p>The same could apply to a dating situation where you have the difficult task of summing someone up in a short period of time. But I'm primarily concerned with a professional context.<p>Is there a single question you can ask, the answer to which would reveal what type of person you are dealing with and whether you are likely to get along well with that person?
"Is there a single question..."<p>No. And there shouldn't be.<p>Instead of spending time and energy trying to determine the perfect quesiton, why don't you just spend that same time and energy actually <i>talking to people</i>.<p>Talk about anything. Listen as much as you talk. "Engage" them. After 5 minutes of sincere (this is key!) interaction and a half dozen subjects, you'll probably have a pretty good idea of where their heart is.<p>A low tech solution that has been working very well forever. All it takes is a little practice.<p>OTOH, if you <i>don't</i> do this and probe with a single question, you'll look phony and won't learn anything.
Whether you get along with that person or not depends on what's important to you.<p>There is a great book about body language called What Every Body is Saying by an ex-FBI agent. Excellent read and be forewarned that you'll start seeing other people in a very different light. Heck, it will make you think twice about what and how you say things. On Amazon: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/What-Every-BODY-Saying-Speed-Reading/dp/0061438294" rel="nofollow">http://www.amazon.com/What-Every-BODY-Saying-Speed-Reading/d...</a> .
I know this is crazy, but I'm going to try to answer that - "If you don't have to work for money, what would you do?". You'll mostly get untrue answers for that, but somebody might look at you straight in the eye and actually say something other than the job you're offering. If it fits your profile, hire them. If it doesn't, see if you can create one. Honest people are rare :)
Judge them by their actions.<p>In an interview, ask them if they have any side projects. If they code when they don't have to, you know where their heart is. In a dating situation... if they don't call, or stand you up, that is more telling than what they say. People don't know themselves that well, and have trouble being direct in both scenarios.
People lie out their ass in interviews. They're also likely to jump ship at any time in the future for a wide variety of reasons. Maybe they just don't like the leftovers you bring to work because it stinks up the office. Who knows. It's called risk, it's real, and if you're an entrepreneur or businessman you better get used to it.<p>Ask them a few technical questions to make sure they aren't full of it, use your gut and intuition, do a probationary contract period, and hire them after 2 or 3 months if they're good. Some successful managers don't even do the contract period. If you can't successfully judge people at least on a semi-consistent basis, you might want to try finding a business partner who can.<p>At some point running a business, you have to learn what "risk" and "unknown" really means - it means you have no fucking clue what's going to happen. Plan <i>for</i> outcomes, don't plan <i>on</i> outcomes.
Hiring the right person is never easy, and your question "where their heart is" makes it even harder.<p>I want to give you a question that has served me well for nearly a decade, and gets as close as possible to your question.<p>Ask the candidate what they would do if they won the lottery tomorrow.<p>This question will immediately advise you as to what their core values and true ambitions are. Certainly this isn't a "tell all", but when evaluated within a comprehensive interview is valuable information.