Members with This Book
Most Helpful Reviews
see all reviews
Liked It “Have very funny puzzles and prepare you with the correct mind set to solve them, the first part talks about the history is Silicon Valley and the IQ testing process.” see full review » see other reviews » |
Didn’t Like It “Did stir the brain.” see full review » see other reviews » |
Newest Reviews
see all reviews-
“Did stir the brain.”
Caterpillar wrote this review Monday, October 12 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No“Have very funny puzzles and prepare you with the correct mind set to solve them, the first part talks about the history is Silicon Valley and the IQ testing process.”
David U wrote this review Sunday, May 3 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No“Is the Secret Out?
Vallabhi EY wrote this review Thursday, April 2 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
How Would You Move Mount Fuji
Written By William Poundstone
Book Review
If you like teasing your brain for your own goodness or desperate to prove that you are the top 10% of the top 10% to join the Microsoft you are going to love this book. It is a small book but not exactly a quick read but it is an interesting read. The book would help to prepare the candidates aspiring to join the Silicon Valley big names, not to be taken aback when they are asked questions like “How would you move mount Fuji?” or “How many piano tuners are there in the world?” or “If you could remove any of the fifty states of U.S. states, which would it be?”
Now what are the answers to these questions and many of this sorts which seem unanswerable? Poundstone says “No one knows the answer” (However he gives answers for these in the book). As I said those wannabes are selected based on how they approach the problem and not exactly the answer. The book is not just logic puzzles, riddles, hypothetical questions, and trick questions, the author also traces the history of how IQ tests gained popularity because of the efforts of William Shockley and how he lost focus. So, if you get victimized by this kind of interviews which Poundstone calls ‘manufactured stress’, you know who to blame.
The book points out about Professor Howard Gardner who proposed that there are seven kinds of intelligence: Linguistic, logical-mathematical, spatial, bodily kinaesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal, and musical. It is a nice exercise to reckon one’s skill level in each one of these.
During the evolution of IQ tests, when it was found that the interethnic scores were very widely placed, people chose to ignore it for their own good until today. Like someone said, business and ethics don’t get along. Poundstone impartially points out the pros and cons. To add to this he talks about the interesting to learn “Mensa Paradox” which is about the British club Mensa which requires applicants to supply notarized proof that they scored in the top 2 percent of the Stanford-Binet (One of the popular IQ scales designed by Lewis Terman of Stanford and his colleagues) or other approved intelligence tests. The paradox associated is that “Mensa has professors and truck drivers, scientists and fire-fighters, computer programmers and farmers, artists, military people, musicians, labourers, police officers, glass blowers”. The obvious question is “If these people are so smart, why aren’t they rich, or famous, or Noble-prize winners, or simply more successful at something than they are?”
Poundstone quotes how young students whether selected or not after a gruelling 9 hour interview in Microsoft say that they had a blast when they are asked to think on their feet. Microsoft’s 25th year anniversary book rightly states that to remain ahead one should not ‘Get Fat’ but ‘Stay Hungry’. It’s not just puzzles, behavioural questions like ‘What gives you joy?’; ‘If you saw a co-worker doing something dishonest, would you tell your boss?’ are also touched upon. It is also assured by the Microsoft’s interviewers that those who are not selected are not necessarily unqualified but whoever gets selected is definitely qualified, because they don’t want to risk by bad hires.
The Microsoft’s interviewers take only the optimistic view of rational problem solving like the puzzle which goes ‘How would you find a book in a library which is not really arranged’. Poundstone points that this is mentioned in the Zen philosophy as ‘Nothing will do. What do you do?’ Some of the kinds of puzzles types are Uncertainty, Dysfunction, Embracing cluelessness, Paradigm shifts, Immersive and Absurdist puzzles. If you get dizzy about all these terms, don’t worry, these are not just mentioned but explained, so it is up to you (‘No Guts! No Glory!’)
Now let’s assume that you have read the book entirely and solved all the puzzles in it, now can you be sure that your selection is warranted? Is the secret out? Not exactly, first thing is all these do not have one correct answer and also unless you hone your thinking ability, you will get caught easily. So, is it a waste to buy this book? Not really, because even if you don’t attend any interviews you solve so many puzzles in your normal day to day life. And this training will help you make wiser decisions. So, it is as valuable to anybody.
For all those who like to outsmart in interview, Joel Spolsky, one of Microsoft’s interviewers discussed a question he likes to ask candidates: ‘design a house’. When the candidate starts answering and designing, he interrupts saying ‘The house is for 48-foot tall blind giraffes’. Now what do you think?
”
“An interesting book that gives a brief history of puzzle based interviews. I picked up this book to check out the list of puzzles listed. Most of the popular puzzle questions are all in here - with solutions :)
Unoose Ayoob wrote this review Tuesday, November 18 2008. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
Hoping this will come handy in some interviews for me...”
“Very entertaining puzzles.”
Jyoti S wrote this review Tuesday, July 22 2008. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Fun book. Few puzzle a lot of history. It is mostly a documentary on culture of puzzle interviews, justification, pros and cons... enjoyed it. Give it 4/5”
naishe wrote this review Tuesday, June 24 2008. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“The most admiring collection of interesting puzzles I have to say, blessed by the creative brilliance of Poundstone...must read!!!”
s k wrote this review Wednesday, January 30 2008. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“A very good book for a puzzle enthusiast.Author also explains the basis of puzzle interviews”
Sridhar Oruganti wrote this review Sunday, July 13 2008. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Among the many puzzle books I've read, this one tops the list for its classic collection and Poundstone's narration on how to derive the solutions. ”
Booked wrote this review Wednesday, September 19 2007. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Catchy title, ain’t it? Well the title is one reason I did pick up to see what the book is about… I know… I know… you are not supposed to judge a book by its cover… or the title for that matter. But that’s not what I am doing. Just saying that the title piqued my interest. Plus, there is also “How the world’s smartest companies select the most creative thinkers” as a subtitle on the cover, with Microsoft being referred to as a smart company (which I endorse whole heartedly, not getting into the debate of the quality of their software). And since I am an active member of the job market currently I had a somewhat personal interest in this book.
Himanshu wrote this review Thursday, August 23 2007. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
Having said that, I also loath the preachy self help books that teach you how to win friends, or how to get rich, or how to change the channel on the TV with the minimum effort. Thankfully, this book stays miles clear from being preachy. It is like a person who knows his stuff come and give his acquired knowledge to us in the 15-min coffee break. It educates, but does not bore; which is quite a task to achieve.
The book primarily focuses on the proliferation of puzzles in recruitment interviews, especially for the young, ready-to-take-on-the-world college pass outs. It covers pretty much all the aspects on the subject: the history of puzzles in interviews, the objective of puzzles, their effectiveness, ways to tackle them, and even what companies should do while using puzzles as a technique for hiring along with a handful of puzzles thrown in. None of the topics in the book make you feel like you have read a heavy duty chapter on “.Net” technology. And the tips in the book are actually quite practical.
But don’t read this book if you want a treasure of puzzles. There are a plenty of websites dedicated to them. The book is about a very narrow subject: “Puzzles in interviews”. But the audience for this book is not narrow. Obviously the kids who are gonna pass out of their colleges next term could make good use of the book. But you could read the book for plain fun and some pretty neat insights into the hiring practices in some companies. And by the way, to give the answer to the title puzzle, if you tried, you can move Mount Fuji in 30 million years, give or take a few million.
- Himanshu
PS: A little anecdote: A friend was interviewing candidates for a position in his company. He asked one candidate, “If you are in a race, and if you overtake the guy who is third, what position would you be in.” The candidate promptly said, “Second”… It took some time before the catch sunk into him and he sheepishly said while leaving the room, “That should be third, it was a trick question!”
A couple of candidates later, my friend asked the question, “If you are in a race, and if you overtake the guy who is SEVENTH, what position would you be in?” And the candidate blurted out, “Third…”
”
