"I've seen too many good people (friends and students of mine) miss out on jobs simply because they failed these type of problems."
With this I would absolutely concur. I have more than a few friends who are smart, and who are rock-solid performers, but who just don't have a knack for brainteasers. I would hope than an interviewer is able to suss this out in an interview, i.e., make the determination that a person is great in every aspect, would probably be a great fit, but just happens to suck at puzzle questions. Sadly, I'm sure it's more often the rule than the exception that an interviewer will reflexively pass on someone who flubs a puzzle.
And I agree with you that puzzle questions require flexibility not only on the part of the interviewee, but also on the part of the interviewer. If you're just tossing out questions based on a book of canned puzzles, don't be surprised when you get canned responses. The exercise becomes entirely meaningless when that happens, and there's really no use in proceeding with it if it does.
With this I would absolutely concur. I have more than a few friends who are smart, and who are rock-solid performers, but who just don't have a knack for brainteasers. I would hope than an interviewer is able to suss this out in an interview, i.e., make the determination that a person is great in every aspect, would probably be a great fit, but just happens to suck at puzzle questions. Sadly, I'm sure it's more often the rule than the exception that an interviewer will reflexively pass on someone who flubs a puzzle.
And I agree with you that puzzle questions require flexibility not only on the part of the interviewee, but also on the part of the interviewer. If you're just tossing out questions based on a book of canned puzzles, don't be surprised when you get canned responses. The exercise becomes entirely meaningless when that happens, and there's really no use in proceeding with it if it does.