The propagandist's purpose is to make one set of people forget that certain other sets of people are human.
- Aldous Huxley
Rule of Three
People are great problem-solvers - except when they’re not. When people aren’t being great problem-solvers, they tend to latch onto the first plausible alternative. Sometimes the first alternative is the best solution. More often, the best solution is the third, fourth, or fifth possibility.
The Rule of Three is a guideline for making better decisions. Here’s how it goes:
One alternative is a trap. There’s only one solution, and if it doesn’t work, you’re out of luck and out of options.
Two alternatives is a dilemma. Two alternatives is false choice: there’s only this or that.
Three alternatives provide a real choice. With three alternatives you can make a real choice.
Once people come up with the third alternative, it’s easy to come up with several more.
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Flipping the Bozo Bit
Imagine this scene: One of your colleagues - we’ll call him Cyril - just doesn’t get it. He’s sort of annoying and clueless. He has started talking about the product design again, and you’ve tuned him out. Here he goes again. Why doesn’t he just shut up? you say to yourself with gritted teeth and start thinking about the soccer tournament.
You’ve flipped the bozo bit on Cyril - because only a clown would talk this way.
Hold on.
Cyril may not understand the issues as well as you do. But before you lose patience and assume Cyril is a bozo, ask yourself, "Do I want to work with or influence Cyril?" When we write someone off and disregard all input from that person as suspect, we diminish our ability to cooperate, work with, or influence that person. One way or another, contempt will leak through and color the working relationship.
Instead of flipping the bozo bit, make a generous interpretation of the other person’s behavior, and ask this question: "Assuming that this person is smart, well-intentioned, and has legitimate motives, what would have to be true for this person to say this or act this way?"
Come up with three plausible alternatives. Because no matter how it looks, everyone is trying to be helpful - even someone who may act or sound like a bozo from time to time.
- Johanna Rothman and Esther Derby, Behind Closed Doors: Secrets of Great Management
