Being Proven Wrong

Show that you hold strong opinions loosely: you test your ideas, change your mind when the evidence says so, and credit whoever was right.

Overview

'Tell me about a time you were proven wrong' is a question about ego. Every engineer is wrong often. The interviewer wants to know what happens next: do you dig in and defend the idea, or do you look at the evidence, change course, and say so out loud?

This is different from a failure story. In a failure story, something went wrong. Here, nothing has to go wrong at all; the point is that you believed one thing, learned it was not true, and updated. The best stories show that you proposed an idea with real conviction, set up a fair test, and accepted the result, even when it went against you.

The strongest detail is often who proved you wrong. If it was a teammate, a junior engineer or a customer, say so and give them the credit. That tells the interviewer you care more about the right answer than about being the person who had it. The example story on this page is fiction.

  • Conviction — Had a real, reasoned view — Had no view, so nothing to be wrong about
  • Testing — Proposed a way to find out — Argued until someone gave in
  • Updating — Changed course quickly once the data was in — Moved the goalposts
  • Credit — Named who was right — Took the credit, or went quiet
  • Lesson — Changed how they test ideas now — 'I learned to be humble'

What you will be able to do

  • Pick a story where you were clearly and specifically wrong.
  • Show how the question was settled by evidence, not by rank.
  • Describe changing course and giving credit, in plain words.
  • Name what you now do differently before you commit to an idea.

Interview questions

  • Tell me about a time you were proven wrong.
  • Tell me about a time a colleague had a better idea than yours.
  • How do you change your mind in front of a team?
  • Tell me about a time your assumptions turned out to be incorrect.

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