# The Story Matrix — 6 stories that cover 40 questions

Interviews feel unpredictable; they aren't. ~80% of behavioural questions map to seven competencies. Prepare six *stories* (not answers), and you can cover the space.

## The matrix
Build a 6×7 grid: stories as rows, competencies as columns. Each story should check 2-4 columns; every column needs 2+ stories (interviewers probe the same competency twice — reusing a story on the second probe reads as thin experience).

| Competency | The question behind the questions |
|---|---|
| Ownership | did you act beyond your lane when it mattered? |
| Conflict | can you disagree without burning the bridge — and lose gracefully? |
| Failure | do you know *why* it failed, and what you changed after? |
| Ambiguity | what did you do when nobody could tell you what to do? |
| Influence | can you move people who don't report to you? |
| Delivery under constraint | what did you cut, and how did you choose? |
| Growth | what's genuinely different about you since two years ago? |

## Story selection rules
- **Recency:** at least 4 of 6 from the last ~3 years — older stories imply the highlight reel ended.
- **The failure story is load-bearing.** Pick one where the failure was really yours (not "my weakness is perfectionism" wearing a costume), the cost was real, and the changed behaviour is demonstrable *in another story on the grid* — that cross-reference is devastatingly convincing.
- **One number per story minimum**, and know its denominator; the follow-up "how did you measure that?" is where bluffers die.
- Prepare the **10-second version** of each story first, the 2-minute version second. Leading with the headline and letting them pull detail beats monologuing — it converts the interview into a conversation you're steering.

## The night before
Don't rehearse words; rehearse *first sentences*. Six first sentences, one per story. If you can start cleanly, you can finish; if you memorised paragraphs, one interruption strands you.
