Preparing Follow Up Branches
Launch library · evergreen read
Rather than writing a single linear list of questions, some interviewers prepare branching paths: if a subject answers one way, a particular follow up awaits; if they answer differently, another path opens instead. This kind of preparation anticipates the conversation's likely directions in advance. This kind of mapping rarely survives contact with the actual conversation entirely intact, and that is expected.
The value is not in following the branches rigidly, since real conversation rarely maps cleanly onto any diagram prepared beforehand. The value lies in the thinking itself, which leaves the interviewer better equipped to respond quickly and thoughtfully whichever direction the subject actually takes. A short mental rehearsal of each branch still sharpens the questions eventually asked aloud.
This kind of preparation particularly rewards complex or sensitive topics, where a wrong turn taken without forethought can be harder to recover from gracefully than in a simpler, more straightforward conversation. Complex or sensitive topics reward this preparation most, since an unplanned wrong turn there is far harder to recover from gracefully than in a simpler exchange.