It’s interview day at your company, and you’re about to meet a stream of potential hires a mile long.
Ever thought how stale the air in the interview room can get with the ho-hum of stock questions?
“Where do you see yourself in five years?” “What are your greatest strengths and weaknesses?” Yawn fest, right?
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But take a step back. You’re looking for someone beyond their sales pitch—someone with creativity, ingenuity, and a set of out-of-the-box thinking gear.
So, we’re sinking our teeth into some serious questions that’ll not only break the ice but will melt it into an ocean full of insight and potential.
Let’s throw the rulebook out the window and dive into 25 of the most striking creativity assessment questions you could ever ask a candidate. After all, aren’t we all about finding the diamonds in the rough? The unicorns in the herd? You get the drift. Here’s to breaking the mold and finding the innovators and innovators of tomorrow.
Candidate Creativity Assessment Questions
1: The Desert Island Design Problem
Imagine you’re stranded on a desert island, and you’ve got coconut milk, palm leaves, and your wits. You need to design a ‘rescue me’ sign for the ship that always seems to pass but never sees you. What’s your plan?
2: The Color of Sound
If every sound had a color, what would silence look like?
3: A Shapeshifting Desk
Design a desk that transforms into a vehicle. What sort of vehicle does it become, and how easy would it be to switch modes?
4: When Pigs Fly—Design a Transport
We’ve all heard the expression “when pigs fly.” But what if they did? What kind of transportation would they need to navigate the skies?
5: Picture This: A Wordless Story
Create a visual narrative using any resources available in the room to tell a story without words.
6: A Room with a View
Redesign this interview room so you feel as if you’re in the middle of a farm, with no walls or ceiling. What’s inside, and how do you feel?
7: The Impossible Puzzle
If you were given an unsolvable puzzle and had to explain to a child why they can’t solve it yet, what story would you tell them?
8: A Tale of Two Products
Combine two unrelated everyday objects into a new product. What do you create, and who is your market?
9: A Sculpture in Time
If you could sculpt time into an object or landscape, what would it look like?
10: The World in a Grain of Sand
Perspective is key. Describe the most interesting thing about this room from the point of view of an ant or a bird.
11: The Whisper of the River
How do you harness the power and beauty of nature in a contemporary urban setting?
12: A Portal into Imagination
You’ve discovered a portal to an alternate universe accessible only through a smartphone app. What does this world look like and how does it operate?
13: The Age of Snails
If snails were given human-level intelligence, what would the world of business or technology look like to them?
14: A Dance with Data
Turn a complex data set into a dance routine. What does it look like, and what does each move represent?
15: The Language of Machines
Create a new language tailored specifically for communication with machines. What does it sound like, and how does it differ from our spoken languages?
16: The Symphony of Senses
Imagine you can combine your senses. What does the smell of a color sound like?
17: The Box and The Butterfly
You’re given a task to link the journey of a butterfly with the concept of thinking outside the box. How would you connect the two?
18: The Lightbulb Moment in Darkness
You’re in a pitch-black room. Pitch a business idea that solves a universal problem without the use of light.
19: A Recipe for Innovation
If innovation were a recipe, what steps would you follow? What ingredients are essential, and what’s the cooking time?
20: The Measuring Wand
If you could measure the creativity of a person or the taste of an idea, what kind of tool would you need? What scale would it use?
21: Balancing the Unbalancable
You’ve been tasked to balance a pebble on its side on glass. How would you do it without touching it or adding any weights?
22: The Starlight Orchestra
How do you think music would change if it were made in space, where sound doesn’t travel?
23: The Reflective Mirror
How would the news differ if it could only reflect on the positive aspects of stories, even the difficult ones?
24: The River of Reversals
Create a new kind of flow for productivity where doing nothing has just as much value as doing something. What does this look like in practice?
25: The Secret Space under the Table
If you were to build a secret space in your office accessible only by a hidden lever or button, where would it be, and what purpose would it serve?
The Quest for Unconventional Talents
It’s all too easy to go through the motions, asking the same old questions to interviewees. But when you’re hunting for that elusive spark, the flash of genius, it’s about adapting and pushing boundaries. These questions are your key to a secret garden of creative thinkers that can take your team from good to visionary.
Employ this list as more than a set of boilerplate interview questions. Think of them as creative frameworks through which to understand your candidate’s mind. These 25 questions are less about the answers themselves and more about the journey a candidate takes in formulating them.
So, go forth and interview! Embrace the quirkiness, the silent ponder, and the chaotic good that creativity brings. Because it’s through these wild tangents that we often find the straight path to excellence. And who knows, you might just find a candidate who tidies up that chaotic good into the systematic brilliance your company has been searching for.
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