The Interview

When encountering an execution inquiry, it's pivotal to highlight specific elements showcasing your depth of understanding and expertise. Here are the pivotal criteria:

Understanding and Seizing the Right Opportunities

• Determine and Rank Opportunities: Not just spotting opportunities, but recognizing the ones aligning best with overarching goals.

• Deriving Goals from Constraints: When faced with limitations or challenges, how do you transform them into actionable targets?

• Evolving with the Situation: The ability to pivot when met with fresh data or changing landscapes is invaluable.

How to Tackle Goal-Oriented Queries

For instance, let's say we need to define success for Stories within Instagram?

1. The Company's Vision

   • What does the organization aim to achieve?
   • How does the sector you're scrutinizing contribute to this bigger picture?

2. Product Objectives from the User's Lens

   • How does this sector further the organization's main objectives? And what benefits does the user derive?

3. Metrics that Indicate Success

   • Hypothetically, if this product was non-existent and suddenly appeared, how would it affect overarching metrics?
   • Would it enhance user engagement or retention? Attract new users? Boost revenue?
   • Identify one primary metric as your guide.

4. Short-Term Surrogate Metrics

   • The primary metric might be slow to register changes. Are there metrics that can act as surrogates, reflecting changes sooner?

5. Analyzing Metric-Related Trade-offs

   • Every metric has its drawbacks. Which ones should you be wary of when relying on your primary or surrogate metrics?

Navigating Trade-Off Queries

For example, do we want to add the ability to post Instagram Stories on the top of the screen or as a separate posting option on the bottom bar?

1. Defining the Trade-Off

   • If you were to commit fully to one of the options, what would the immediate and long-term repercussions be?
   • Recognize the shared endgame for both options.

2. Objective Setting

   • Your aim should be to balance the trade-offs in a way that promotes the common long-term objective.
   • By experimenting with both elements, find the blend that serves the long-term goal best.

3. Continual Optimization

   • Initial solutions pave the way for deeper optimization using factors like the network effect or personalization.

Breaking Down Root-Cause Analysis Queries

For instance, why is there a 10% drop in the amount of Instagram Story postings?

1. Expansive Investigation: The aim is to dig into every plausible reason that might have instigated the change in metrics.

2. Creating a Comprehensive List: Focus on attributes like technical details, particular funnel stages, demographic shifts, or specific product alterations.

3. Stay Open-Minded: There isn't a fixed 'right' answer. It's more about exploring a broad range of possibilities, even if you don't pinpoint the exact root cause.