By analogy, I'm reminded of a skit that we did in school:
A man, on his hands and knees, searching diligently for something on the ground.
Another man, walking by, stops to help search. After a few moments he asks "what are we searching for?"
The first man replies "My contact lens"
After a minute or two the second man, frustrated, asks "Where did you lose it?"
The first man replies "Way over there, but the light is better under this streetlamp."
Coding interviews kinda feel like that to me. We can't measure what's important, so we'd better measure what we can measure extremely rigorously.
A man, on his hands and knees, searching diligently for something on the ground.
Another man, walking by, stops to help search. After a few moments he asks "what are we searching for?"
The first man replies "My contact lens"
After a minute or two the second man, frustrated, asks "Where did you lose it?"
The first man replies "Way over there, but the light is better under this streetlamp."
Coding interviews kinda feel like that to me. We can't measure what's important, so we'd better measure what we can measure extremely rigorously.