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#1
06-06-2005, 02:31 AM
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Lateral thinking?
I was browsing around on everything2.com and found this about lateral thinking:
[ QUOTE ] Many organisations, especially ones who think themselves progressive in some sense, like to surprise interview candidates with lateral thinking exercises. These will be put to the candidate completely out of the blue. The interviewers are looking for logical problem solving capabilities. There are free form lateral exercises that have no set answer and also (realistic) 'puzzles' that have a definite solution. Here are some such questions I have heard or come across: # "How many piano tuners are in your local phone book" # " Something extraordinarily unusual happened on the 6th of May, 1978, at 12:34 p.m. What was it? " - easy right? # "How many degrees are there between the hands of a clock at (enter time)" - looking for you to break the problem down, not necessarily the correct answer. If they're feeling nice, you'll get a whole number. # "A man walks into a bar and asks the barman for a glass of water. The barman pulls out a gun and points it at the man. The man says 'Thank you' and walks out." - A: He had hiccups # "How would you build a bicycle" - (interview question from Jennifer in catbox) If you think the company you will be seeing is self-centred and smug, you should put some time into constructing some answers to these or at least prepare yourself for the eventuality of a surpise attack... [/ QUOTE ] I've got a pretty good idea of what lateral thinking is now, but I can' t think of any good answers for the first two questions (bolded). Anyone care to take a stab? 
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#3
06-06-2005, 02:35 AM
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Re: Lateral thinking?
[ QUOTE ]
The piano tuners one is weird. Not sure. The May 6th, 1978 question is simple... date was 12:34 on 5/6/78... for the only time in history... kinda cheesy. [/ QUOTE ] Actually, for the first time in a century.
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#4
06-06-2005, 02:36 AM
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Re: Lateral thinking?
[ QUOTE ]
# "How many piano tuners are in your local phone book" [/ QUOTE ] 146 [ QUOTE ] " Something extraordinarily unusual happened on the 6th of May, 1978, at 12:34 p.m. What was it? " - easy right? [/ QUOTE ] The entire country of Mexico realized they were celebrating Cinco de Mayo a day late. [ QUOTE ] # "How would you build a bicycle" [/ QUOTE ] Obviously, with a playing card flapping in the spokes. Ooops. First read this as "How would your ride a bicycle?" I guess I don't get the job.
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#6
06-06-2005, 02:43 AM
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Re: Lateral thinking?
Here's another one for you:
Why is a compact disc 5.25" in diameter? Answer in white: <font color="white"> To fit in the CD player.</font>
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#9
06-06-2005, 02:45 AM
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Re: Lateral thinking?
Questions of the first type, they generally want to see how you approach it. So, how many people are there? OK, what percentage of people have pianos? About how often will a piano be tuned? How many pianos per day can a tuner tune. And so forth.....
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#10
06-06-2005, 02:48 AM
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Re: Lateral thinking?
"How many piano tuners are in your local phone book" None. I assume the piano sellers do this? Something extraordinarily unusual happened on the 6th of May, 1978, at 12:34 p.m. What was it? " - easy right? Yea. 12:34 PM on 5/6, '78 .... 12345678 "How many degrees are there between the hands of a clock at (enter time)" - looking for you to break the problem down, not necessarily the correct answer. If they're feeling nice, you'll get a whole number. The time is 2:43 here. This means that the minute hand has moved (43/60) * 360 -> ~260 degrees The hour hand has (2*(360/12) + ((43/60)*(1/12)*360) Sooo... thats 60 + 22 ish? 82? So 260-82 = about 178 degrees. Therefore difference is about 178 A man walks into a bar and asks the barman for a glass of water. The barman pulls out a gun and points it at the man. The man says 'Thank you' and walks out." - A: He had hiccups ??? ok? # "How would you build a bicycle" - (interview question from Jennifer in catbox) ???
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Linear Mode
