Funny enough, that statement would have won points with me. The first time I heard that phrase was in "Soul of a New Machine", and it would have been a good ice breaker :). That being said... definitely not something I would personally drop in an interview.

Edit: also, there's a final piece of that that's critical:

> Tom West practices the "Mushroom Theory of Management" – "keeping them in the dark, feeding them shit, and watch them grow."

Many companies stop after the first two parts and miss the third.