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Can you tell me about a time when you suffered a setback

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and had to maintain your enthusiasm?

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Sure. One definitely comes to mind.

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Last year a project for a new toy was in its final stages

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after two years of work.

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As we were looking at the branding

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and working up a final marketing plan,

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a competitor launched a version

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of the exact same toy that we were launching.

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As the leader of the project, I knew that my reaction would set the tone for the group.

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I acknowledged that it was a setback,

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but challenged the group to think of this as a blessing in disguise.

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I asked them to go out and buy the competitor’s product

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and make a list of anything they wished the toy could do that it didn’t.

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It turned out that the list was pretty long.

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We added these items to our toy,

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and launched a far superior product 6 months later.

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So, in many ways, the competitor’s product became the key to our success.

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That sounds like a great victory.