We can run the interview. Why don't we know what it means?

You have the mechanics. You can keep a conversation moving, fill the hour, make the person feel heard. That is not the hard part, and you know it. The hard part is this: you walk out with pages of notes and no clearer idea than when you walked in. Words were said. You cannot yet tell which of them mattered. That is not a talent you lack — it is a step you skipped. You asked questions before you decided what you were testing for. With your team, the fix is not a better question list. It is agreeing, before anyone opens their mouth, on what a strong answer would actually prove — and what a weak one would expose. Do that together, and the debrief stops being an argument about impressions and starts being a comparison of evidence.

◆ How this problem reads on the two dials

GuidanceKnowledge

Coaching

More to learn

1:1 with AureliusWith others (a Pod)

Some one-to-one

Practise with peers

The core gap is a missing mental model for what 'signal' looks like, so teach that frame first, then coach the habit of applying it live.

How the two dials adapt to you →

What’s really going on

You are not short on questions. You are short on a target. Before you sit down, decide what you must learn — the one thing that would change your mind. Every answer then either moves you toward that or away from it. That is the whole method.

🔒 What you’ll build togetherUnlock by starting

A moveBefore each interview, write down the one decision it must inform — what would actually change your mind.

A moveFor every question you plan to ask, write what a strong answer sounds like and what a weak one sounds like, in advance.

A moveAfter the interview, write your own verdict alone, before you hear anyone else's, so their opinion cannot replace your judgment.

A moveIn debrief, require each person to point to a specific moment as evidence — not a feeling, not a vibe.

A moveCut any question that does not map to something you actually need to decide. If it's just curiosity, save it for after.

PractiseSignal Before Questions · a Pod of 4 · 30 min

What changes unlock by starting

You walk into interviews with a written hypothesis, not just a list of questions.
Your team's debriefs move from 'I liked them' to 'they did X, which tells us Y.'
Decisions get faster and less argued-over, because you agree on evidence before you argue about people.
You stop mistaking a pleasant conversation for a good hire.

One object, two jobs: a public answer to a real problem, and — the moment you start the chat — Aurelius’s live plan for your version of it.