Of course, in an ideal world you would fix all of your organization’s negative aspects. But let’s be honest: The typical talent executive does not have the political wherewithal to snap their fingers and make those changes.

So you’ve got to play the hand you’re dealt, and that means hiring people who can handle these tough situations.

We discovered that most interview questions have phrases at the end of them that ruin the questions’ effectiveness. These phrases include, “How did you solve it?” “How did you overcome that?,” and, “How did you successfully come through that?”

We’ve completely lost the opportunity to hear a...