“We just made a great hire,” Evelyn announced. “We have been trying to recruit this guy for the past two years. Finally, he’s on our side.”

“So, what is so attractive, that you think he would make a good fit for the organization?” I asked.

“He is the break-out king,” she replied. “Every time we go to a conference in our industry, he is always one of the break-out leaders. His industry knowledge is top flight. On the lecture circuit, he is absolutely solid.”

“Given a problem to solve?” I squinted.

“He knows the answer before you even state the problem,” Evelyn was quick to respond.

I nodded in some agreement. “You told me that things in your industry were rapidly changing. What used to be, isn’t necessarily so, going forward. How open is your candidate to new ideas? Just curious.”

“That’s the thing,” she started. “He is so far ahead of the curve, he already knows what moves we should make.”

“How do you know?”

“Because he says so. Before you can even get halfway through explaining the problem, he can clearly state the solution.”

“What if he doesn’t understand the problem?” I smiled. “What if he solves the wrong problem? What if his solution worked somewhere else, but doesn’t work here? What if his solution is correct, but he can’t enroll people to execute? What if his solution works for the current problem, but creates unintended consequences later in time? There are some other things I want to learn about this person, his methodology and the frame from which he sees the world. It is wonderful to know everything, but that usually only works as a history lesson.”