Tell me about a team decision that went against the position you'd argued for. What did you do once it was made?
Why this works
Anyone can commit to a plan they liked; losing the argument is where team-first behavior gets tested. The question shows whether the candidate can execute a decision at full effort without relitigating it — and whether their dissent stayed honest and on the record rather than moving to the hallway.
Follow-up probes
- How visible was your support once the work started?
- What would teammates say your effort looked like from outside?
- Did the decision turn out right or wrong — and what happened then?
What good looks like
Dissent argued fully before the decision and then a clean switch to executing, support visible enough that a newcomer couldn't tell they'd opposed it, and the outcome revisited honestly — including when they turned out to be wrong.
Red flags
Agreement in the meeting and campaigning after it, effort quietly dialed down so the failure would prove them right, an "I told them so" delivered with relish, or going silent and calling it commitment.
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