Playing Hardball in a world of softballs

Years ago, MSNBC had a show called Hardball hosted by Chris Matthews.

Matthews had this reputation for being this red-in-the-face, no-nonsense type of interviewer who struck fear in the most grizzled of political veterans in the DC area.  But if you were to watch the show a few times, it was obvious Matthews was more or less “following the script” as far as DC political shows are concerned.

There are certain boundaries over which people like Chris Matthews do not overstep, no matter how heated or passionate they may appear to be. If they did, they wouldn’t be employed by the likes of MSNBC.

This isn’t crazy conspiracy stuff; this is reality. Guests on Hardball expected Chris Matthews to get all bent out of shape over certain things, but knew he would never cross certain lines. So they were essentially the quintessential “softball” questions, only the host got red in the face from time to time.

This is a lot like life. Every now and then, someone I’m interviewing on the This Is What We C.R.A.V.E. podcast will listen to my question and say, “I don’t think I’ve ever been asked that before.” I take that as a compliment, and it probably is. But beneath the surface of their response is perhaps something along the lines of, “Everyone that interviews me just asks me a bunch of softball questions, I’m not used to questions that actually make me think!”

So let’s assume what I just wrote is true (as though I would write it if it were not true?) and apply this to day to day life.

You’re doing a job interview, and you know you can expect the standard “softball” questions.

Where do you see yourself in 5 years? Describe a situation where you got into an argument with a coworker; how did you resolve it? etc. etc.

What if you were to answer with “hardballs”?

“Well, to tell you the truth, I would consider myself a massive failure if I were still here in 5 years; I actually pity you that you’re still here.”

It’s like that movie Office Space where the main character, while trying to get fired, makes himself much more attractive to his employers by just being himself, saying things how they really are.

That guy was playing Hardball in a world of softballs.

Podcast interviews are sometimes dreadfully predictable. The host knows they’re not going to overstep certain boundaries. The guest knows the host isn’t going to overstep certain boundaries. The host knows that the guest knows the host…

You get the idea.

What if someone were to get creative and think of a question that no one has ever asked this person that’s been on hundreds of podcasts and YouTubes?

My rule of thumb is to think of the very first question that comes to my mind I might want to ask someone, and then discard it. I assume it’s one of those questions that’s been asked of them a millions times, so I dig a bit deeper. Quite a bit deeper actually.

Come interview time, I might say something like, “I assume you’ve done such and such…(referring to aforementioned Obvious Question) and then let that lead into the nonobvious question that will get the coveted, “No one has ever asked me that before…”

It’s very rewarding, and you can bet I’ve earned the respect, even trust of that guest.

People like to talk about themselves. Play real Hardball when everyone is expecting softballs and you’ll watch your credibility soar.

If you’re wanting to listen to my own interviewing skills at work, here’s the link to my podcast: https://jamesdnewcomb.com/podcast