The Interview That Started with a Broomstick, By Oladunni Olisa

I had prepared very well for the interview.

I had gone over possible questions, thought carefully about my answers and made sure I understood what was expected of me. On the day, I arrived very early. Like most people going for an interview, I imagined I knew roughly what would happen. There would probably be questions about my experience and strengths, perhaps a scenario or two, and an opportunity to explain why I was suitable for the role.

What happened instead surprised me.

The man who welcomed us gathered the candidates together, and each of us was given a broomstick. He then pointed to some rubbish and told us that we had to move it to a particular spot using only what we had been given.

At first, the task sounded simple.

We each had one broomstick, so naturally we began trying to complete the task individually. We pushed, tried different angles, adjusted our positions and tried again. Everyone was trying, yet we still could not move the rubbish to the spot he had indicated.

We tried and tried, but it simply was not working.

After watching us for a while, the man stopped us.

“Stop and think,” he said.

Those three words changed everything.

Instead of continuing to use more energy on something that was clearly not working, we paused and looked at the task again. Then one of the candidates suggested that we put the broomsticks together and make them into a bundle.

We did, and suddenly what had seemed difficult became possible. Working together, we were able to move the rubbish to exactly where we had been asked to put it.

I was amazed.

There I was, prepared to answer questions about my experience, abilities and suitability for the job, yet before anyone had asked me much about myself, I had already been given one of the most memorable lessons of the interview.

Teamwork had turned individual effort into collective effectiveness.

Each of us had been given one broomstick. On its own, it had some usefulness, but for the particular task in front of us, one was not enough. It was only when we brought the broomsticks together that we achieved the result.

After completing the exercise, we all moved on to the next stage of the interview, but the lesson from that first task stayed with me.

Working Harder Was Not the Answer

What struck me afterwards was that we had not failed because we were unwilling to work. We were already trying hard. We had been pushing, adjusting and applying effort, yet effort alone was not solving the problem.

The solution came when we stopped, thought and listened to one another.

That distinction has stayed with me because there are times in work, and even in life, when our natural response to difficulty is simply to try harder. Sometimes that is exactly what is needed. But at other times, greater effort applied to the same ineffective approach only leaves us more exhausted.

Sometimes we need to pause, consider a different perspective or allow another person to contribute an idea we have not considered.

The candidate who suggested putting the broomsticks together saw something the rest of us had not yet seen. But having the idea alone did not complete the task. The idea worked because everyone was willing to listen, cooperate and contribute.

That is what made the exercise such a powerful illustration of teamwork.

Different Strengths, One Purpose

We often talk about teamwork as though it simply means people working beside one another. I think it is more than that.

A good team does not require everyone to think, communicate or contribute in the same way. In fact, some of its greatest strength may come from those differences.

One person may be quick to see a solution. Another may be good at organising people. Someone else may notice details others overlook, while another person may remain calm when the situation becomes difficult.

The important thing is not that everyone brings the same strength. It is that those different strengths can be brought together for a common purpose.

That interview exercise demonstrated this in the simplest possible way. We had each been given the same simple tool, but success came when we stopped concentrating only on what each of us could accomplish individually and began considering what we could achieve together.

What the Exercise Really Asked

Interviews naturally encourage us to talk about ourselves: What are your strengths? What experience do you have? What can you bring to the organisation?

Those are important questions. Employers need people who are competent, responsible and able to perform their roles well.

But perhaps there is another question beneath them:

What happens to your strength when you become part of a team?

Can you contribute your own ideas while still listening to somebody else’s? Can you recognise when another person has seen something you have missed? Can you support a good idea even when it was not yours? And can you allow your individual ability to become part of something larger than yourself?

Those questions matter because workplaces rarely depend on one person alone. Even highly skilled individuals work within teams, organisations and wider networks of people.

Individual competence matters, but so does the ability to collaborate.

The Broomsticks I Still Remember

That interview exercise lasted only a short time, yet years later I still remember those broomsticks.

Perhaps it is because the lesson travelled far beyond the interview room.

There will always be moments when we are tempted to keep struggling alone because we want to prove that we are capable. Asking for help can sometimes feel like admitting weakness, and accepting another person’s idea can feel as though our own has somehow failed.

But collaboration does not diminish individual strength. Sometimes, it multiplies it.

One broomstick still has value. But when the task requires more than one broomstick can accomplish, bringing several together does not make any of them less useful. It makes them more effective for the task at hand.

I arrived at that interview prepared to explain what I could do.

Before long, I was being shown what we could do.

And perhaps that was one of the most important questions in the interview, even though nobody asked it directly:

Can you bring your strength into a team and allow the strengths of others to work alongside yours?

That day, a simple bundle of broomsticks gave me my answer.

Sometimes better productivity does not come from one person becoming stronger. It comes from people learning how to bring their strengths together.

Oladunni Olisa

Author, Creative Writer & Educator

Creator of Then with Dunni on Instagram