What do you do if you haven't researched the company before a strategy interview?

1- Quickly research the company's mission, values, recent news, and industry trends. 2-Focus on understanding their competitive landscape, target market, and strategic initiatives. 3-During the interview, demonstrate adaptability, ask insightful questions, and relate your skills and experiences to the company's goals to showcase your potential value despite the lack of prior research.

Strategic thinking thrives on intel, which actually gives you an upper hand in this situation. Instead of coming in with canned responses or assumptions, you'll be forced to pepper the interviewer with critical questions, which will essentially turn you into the interviewer -- the driver of the conversation. This is a great opportunity to showcase how your strategic mind works and to make an authentic impression. Heck, after writing this I'm tempted to skip out on research ahead of my next strategy interview.

Staying calm is critical. A great way to do that is by taking a series of deep breaths. You may also quickly assess what is actually happening versus what is taking place in your inner dialogue - often those are two very different narratives. If you can separate those narratives out from one another, you should be able to think calmly and strategically for how to handle the situation, but be honest and upfront.

You're in trouble! That's all I can tell you. Shame on you for not doing that and doing your homework - chance favors the prepared mind. Hopefully you had some very legitimate excuse and come clean at the onset with the interviewer - that's the only thing I can think of to save face and show honesty.

If you haven't researched the company before a strategy interview, take the opportunity to apologize for the oversight, express your eagerness to learn more about the company and its strategic priorities, and quickly conduct a thorough research to demonstrate your commitment and preparedness during the interview.

Listening carefully during a strategy interview allows you to grasp the nuances of the organization's challenges, goals, and culture. This understanding can enable you to align your responses with the company's needs, showcasing your ability to contribute effectively to its strategic initiatives. Moreover, active listening demonstrates respect for the interviewer and your commitment to collaboration, essential qualities for leadership roles in any organization.

"The art is in spontaneity and through it we re-form ourselves" - Viola Spolin Improvisation is a skill and with it one can navigate through the uncertainties of life. For doing this, we must free ourselves from any presumption, "I should have done this or that", "I'm not prepared, what good will this bring", etc. Setting up inner belief will build up confidence which will eventually help you adapt.

If there was an expectation that you would have done said research, then you start by acknowledging you didn't. Be authentic, tell the truth and be willing to deal with the impact of not having done what you said. Then, come with options to make right your mistake. Don't put the management of the breakdown on someone else. Finally, ask what they want to do. It may not be a big deal to them and they may appreciate your candor and want to speak anyway. They may also want to reschedule or not speak at all. In any case - make sure you apologize and deal with the impact without centering yourself or the circumstances that led to not doing what was expected.