Question:

I’m going to put this coin in this bottle and then stop the opening of the bottle with this cork. Can you remove the coin without taking out the cork or breaking the bottle?

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C

A

P

T

A

I

N

I

N

T

E

R

V

I

E

W

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Solution: The out-of-the-box insight interviewers look for here is that the cork may be pushed into the bottle. Candidates who understand this are presumed to be able to address business problems in a jujitsu-like fashion, in which they use the strength of the problem against itself. Unfortunately, most candidates can’t get past the bottleneck assumption that the cork must be extracted from the bottle.

Answer: Push the cork into the bottle and extract the coin.