Interview Questions › Behavioral

Have Backbone; Disagree and Commit

Tell me about a time you disagreed with your manager's decision. What did you do?

Context

What the interviewer is testing: Have Backbone; Disagree and Commit: challenging respectfully, then committing fully once a decision is made.

Clarifying questions to ask first

• How did you raise the disagreement?
• What happened after the decision went against you?
• Who turned out to be right?

How to approach it

1. Pick one real, specific story (not a hypothetical or a summary of many)
2. Set the scene in two or three sentences, including the stakes
3. Spend most of the time on what you personally did and why
4. End with a measurable result and what you learned

Framework: STAR: Situation -> Task -> Action -> Result, with a short reflection at the end

Sample answer

• Raised it with data, privately and early
• Committed fully afterwards
• Reflects honestly on who was right

1. Situation: specific context, their role, and why it mattered (stakes)
2. Task: what they personally owned
3. Action: concrete steps they took, decisions and trade-offs, using "I" not "we"
4. Result: measurable outcome, plus what they learned or would do differently

Disagreed with evidence at the right moment, accepted the decision, executed it fully without undermining it, and reflects on the outcome.

What interviewers look for

• Have Backbone; Disagree and Commit
• Judgment
• Communication