I recently had a second interview for an operations role on a team of about 13 people. The conversation started off well, with the manager discussing collaboration, support among team members, and growth opportunities. However, when it came time for me to ask questions, I decided to change my usual approach. Instead of asking about the team culture, which often yields generic answers, I asked a more specific question: "Of the people currently on this team, how many were also here 18 months ago?" This question caught the manager off guard, and there was a noticeable pause as they counted. They eventually revealed that only four out of the thirteen team members had been there that long. Curious about the turnover, I followed up by asking if the other positions were new hires or replacements. It turned out that most were replacements, with only three being new headcount. This led to a much more insightful conversation about the team's dynamics and the reasons behind the turnover. While this doesn't necessarily indicate a bad company, it certainly provided me with valuable information that I hadn't gained from previous interviews. I plan to keep using this question in future interviews, as it clearly elicits more genuine responses than the typical culture inquiries.