How and why the wrong people always self-evict

There's an ancient wisdom that predates corporate handbooks, HR manuals and every overpriced management seminar promising to unlock your "dormant leadership dragon."

- REY ELBO

Long before consultants learned to charge by the hour, King Solomon practiced a simple way to assess character.

Don't bother interviewing them. Just give them enough space to expose themselves. The same principle appears in Freakonomics (2005), where Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner show how systems can cause people to voluntarily reveal their true character - like a builtin honesty trapdoor.

Solomon didn't need forensics, depositions or a full-blown lifestyle audit. He didn't even create an investigative commission. He simply put a situation on the table and let their character do the talking.

He mandated a "creative" but a morbid solution: Slice the baby in half -- instant 50-50 split, from head to toe. There's no parenting plan required. The fake mother said: "Sounds fair."

The real mother panicked, proving what no courtroom could. She begged Solomon not to proceed with it and offered to give the baby to the impostor. Psychology test passed. The true mother won with zero paperwork.

Let the mask fall naturally

I used the same tactic every time with some "friends" and enemies, recently with a former classmate-millionaire who was a dear friend from way back in college. I asked for help to pull some strings so that I could visit some factories in his property for their management best practices.

He said it's "doable" but I sensed his insincerity after several SMS exchanges.