Assessing judgment: the trait everyone wants and nobody tests
Every senior brief asks for judgment; almost no process measures it. Here is how to actually see it.
Skills are testable and experience is checkable. Judgment - the thing that actually differentiates senior hires - hides between the two. It does not show on resumes, and it survives interviews easily, because interviews reward fluency and judgment is about decisions.
Look for decision history, not opinions
Ask for specific decisions: the hardest call of the last two years, the one they got wrong, the unpopular one they defended. Then drill the mechanics: what did you know, when did you know it, what were the options, what would you do differently? Judgment lives in the mechanics. Hindsight storytelling lives in the polish - learn to hear the difference.
The wrong-call test
"Tell me about a decision you got badly wrong" is the single highest-yield judgment question. Candidates with real judgment answer fast, specifically and without self-flagellation: the decision, the missing information, the change they made afterwards. Candidates without it have never been wrong - which is the loudest signal in the interview.
Watch them handle new information
- In a case discussion, change one assumption mid-way and watch the response
- Strong judgment updates smoothly; brittle judgment defends the first answer
- Note whether they ask what would change your mind - the question of people who decide well