The prompt may sound unusual, but for Risher, it’s a quick way to “suss out” whether a candidate can put themselves in the shoes of a customer—the ultimate green flag he always looks for when making a hire.
“That’s how I know I’ve got someone who can build great customer-obsessed experiences.”
That philosophy remains crucial as Lyft faces fierce competition from ride-sharing rivals like Uber.
“The best way to do that is to create a rideshare network that is so amazing that people choose it millions of times every day—and even more in the future. And there’s only one way to get there: customer obsession.”
Fortune reached out to Risher for comment.
And while he admitted there’s not a right or wrong answer to the question—it’s more of an icebreaker than can help reveal the interthoughts of an applicant.
“I’m mostly curious about how people make decisions,” Hyams explained. “And it’s actually a long 15-minute series of back-and-forth on this, where I get to learn a little bit about the human being, and about how they make decisions.”
“Usually, that’s unexpected, and I want to learn something about it,” he said. “I want to see if they’re willing to be transparent and truthful, or if they’re going to be filtering their comments, feeling that they have a fear of being judged.”
