Snapchat co-founder and CEO Evan Spiegel on a podcast episode of "The Diary of a CEO" shared that he gives new employees on his design team a very difficult task on their first day. Mr Spiegel thinks the first day of a new job sets the tone for the rest of the tenure.
"We have design critiques once a week for a couple of hours," said Mr Spiegel, 34, whose company owns the social media app Snapchat. "[On] your very first day, you have to present something ... Of course, on your first day, when you have no context for what the company is working on ... How on Earth are you supposed to come up with a good idea? I mean, it's almost impossible."
Although the tactic may seem unfair, Mr Spiegel thinks it lays the groundwork for the creativity and critical thinking skills that the employee will need to succeed at the company. The CEO also said the "almost impossible" tasks help employees overcome their fear of failure and encourage them to take more work-related risks.
"Your worst fear has come true that we're sitting there all together and we're looking at an idea that's not that great. I mean, sometimes they're pretty good, but ultimately not that great," he said. "And I think that opens the door to creativity because it already happened. You already failed."
Mr Spiegel emphasised that this exercise helps people build confidence and mental resilience and it also acts as a bonding activity for them.
Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world
