Profit and Loss – Different Thinking of Successful People

The question was quite long and had five multiple-choice answers presented to the candidates:

Answer A: The man earned 2 units.
Answer B: The man didn’t make a profit but didn’t lose any money either.
Answer C: The man incurred a loss of 2 units.
Answer D: The man earned 38 units and had 4 chickens.
Answer E: The man earned 1 unit.

The candidates who received this question were all extremely surprised. They whispered to each other, wondering if the recruiting company had provided the wrong question or why they were using such a simple mathematical question for the selection of a director position. Despite their surprise, everyone had to provide their answer and offer the most reasonable explanation for their chosen answer. Missing either of these factors would be considered failing to meet the standards of the employer.

Because this was a seemingly straightforward question, many people were confident that they would easily pass the initial assessment. However, unexpectedly, the recruiting company announced that only two out of the total 20 candidates present that day had provided the correct answer along with a suitable explanation for their answer. This meant that 90% of the candidates had given incorrect answers.

The interview question was:

Buy a chicken for 8 units, sell it for 9 units, then buy it again for 10 units, and sell it for 11 units. How much did he earn?

90% of the candidates all answered that he earned 1 unit, but their answers were completely contrary. Faced with a lot of confusion, a human resources manager stepped forward to explain:

“The answer that many people here agree with is the answer E ‘The man earned 1 unit.’ Those who gave this answer definitely possess keen intelligence, with the ability to understand human language normally, and possess mathematical and logical skills like many others. But that’s about it. You should remember that we are not looking for an ordinary employee; we are looking for a business director, someone who plays a decisive role in the company’s monthly sales and income. If you’re only good at math, I suggest you apply to be a teacher.”

Only 2 people gave the correct answer, which is answer C ‘The man incurred a loss of 2 units.’

These are the ones with genuine business acumen. In the situation presented in the question, the man could buy a chicken for 8 units and could easily wait two days to sell it for 11 units. This way, he would make a clear profit of 3 units per chicken without the hassle of buying and selling twice in a row, ending up with only 1 unit gained. So, in reality, the man lost 2 units instead of making any profit.

“Surely you all realize that this question isn’t difficult at all. So, those who answered A ‘The man earned 2 units,’ and answer B ‘The man didn’t make a profit but didn’t lose any money either,’ are both lacking in math skills and logical thinking. They are suitable for going back to elementary school rather than applying for our business director position. For candidates who answered with answer D, I recommend that you switch to working at multi-level marketing companies. This way, you can advance and earn millions much faster here.”

Upon hearing this comprehensive explanation, the candidates of the competition were astonished and regretful. They thought the question was too simple and underestimated it from the first few minutes. Consequently, they hastily and carelessly provided answers without delving deeper into the problem or approaching it from a different perspective. That’s why they completely lost and missed the opportunity to proceed to the next interview round.

When this interview question was posted on the Internet, many people made similar mistakes, including an employee named Duong, who worked for a company specializing in assembling machinery. He recalled that in the frequent monthly meetings held earlier in the year, the CEO consistently reminded the sales department how much money the company had lost during that month.

This left the new employee puzzled. Clearly, they were producing numerous products every day in a regular manner. There were also orders fulfilled every week without cease. So, why was the company still incurring losses to this extent every month?

And now, Duong finally understood that their approach to business management and income calculation was entirely different from his way of thinking. The actual income calculation method of the new employee was simply subtracting “Revenue” from “Expenses” to get “Profit.”

But the CEO’s calculation method was:

“Revenue“-“Expenses“=”Profit for this period”. Then “Profit for this period”-“Highest record of revenue for the company in recent years”.

If the result after these two calculations was positive, it indicated growth and profitable business. If the result was negative, meaning that the profit was decreasing compared to previous periods, it demonstrated that the company’s situation was deteriorating, equivalent to incurring losses.

In the mindset of this type of leader, lack of progress is equivalent to regression. Over time, if the profit doesn’t increase, it’s equivalent to standing still or even declining. This indicates that the business operation is not efficiently growing. Therefore, they need to organize evaluation meetings or adjust employee benefits to ensure the overall growth of the company.

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