Lies can communicate deeper truths and provide entertainment in both fiction and art. But in reality, lies may be so damaging that they cause entire enterprises to fail. Polygraph exams and fMRI brain mapping are two common ways to identify lies, but Elon Musk, the CEO and co-founder of Tesla, takes a different approach when hiring new employees. During the 2017 World Government Summit in Dubai, Elon Musk revealed his straightforward but efficient technique for identifying falsehoods in job applications. His method became very well-known on social media.
One of the most powerful business men, Elon Musk, founded SpaceX and is now the CEO of Tesla. He also owns Twitter, now known as X. Unexpectedly, he’s also really good at spotting lies. Musk was questioned at the summit about how he would get applicants for a manned Mars expedition. In response, he said that in addition to using his intuition, he also makes targeted inquiries before making a choice. He clarified, “I say, tell me the story of your life and the decisions you made along the way and why you made them. That’s how my interview questions are always the same.”
Following the introductory segment, Musk poses a critical question to candidates: “Tell me about some of the most difficult problems you worked on and how you solved them.” Explaining his reasoning, the entrepreneur stated, “Those who truly solved the problem know the exact details of how they did it and can describe them thoroughly.”
On the other hand, dishonest candidates tend to avoid detailed explanations or rely on someone else’s story. “Those who only pretended to solve the problem can maybe go one level deep and then get stuck!” Musk declared. This makes it a valuable question for identifying liars. Numerous studies support the effectiveness of Musk’s interview technique.
According to research that was published in the Nature Journal, an innocent person’s speech cues will convey that innocence. The argument used to support this assertion was that, because lying involves more cognitive processes than speaking the truth, lying is cognitively more demanding than telling the truth. Telling the truth requires less work than lying. Therefore, during an interview, recruiters should look for indications of manipulation or if the prospect is “narrating the events exactly as they occurred.”
The cognitive strain of lying is greater than that of stating the truth; therefore, those who lie must continuously check to make sure their story makes sense. Thus, the recruiter can raise the cognitive load to the point where the truth-teller can bear the additional stress but the liar cannot, according to researchers. Requesting that candidates recount their experiences—for instance, a recent sales transaction they closed—is one approach to achieving this, much like Musk suggested.
One other scientific aspect of Musk’s query is that it forces applicants to divulge extensive information regarding their professional background. According to the Asymmetric Information Management lie-detection technique outlined in the Nature Journal, the more detailed a statement is, the easier it is to determine whether it is genuine or fabricated.