How do we take away the stick?

I am currently reading the book by William Ury called “The Power of a Positive No – How to Say No and Still Get to Yes ”.  I recommend this book – especially for those who have a hard time saying no in a negotiation (i.e. insurance contracts) as well as managing your practice.  In this book the author talks of a Zen master who gives a cup of tea to a student and then tells the student “if you drink the tea I will beat you with this stick and if you don’t drink the tea I will beat you with this stick.”

(When I read this for some reason UHC came to mind (BTW in the WSJ read the 3/20/07 article Publicly-Traded Health Plans Lag In Customer Satisfaction Survey)).

It seems to be a no-win situation.  If the student believes that those are the only two choices then he loses his power and the pain is inevitable.  However, if the student looks at other less obvious options then maybe he can stop the infliction of the pain.  How can the student instead take the stick away thereby taking away or diminishing the masters power?  In our profession and businesses how can we take away the stick?  What does taking away the stick look like?

I believe if we know “what (or the fact that we want to)” and “why” we want to take away the stick, the “how” will come – but we (as a profession or in a certain critical mass) must first be resolved to take it away.  I wish I could extend the answer to “how” in this blog – those of you who know me, know I am not that smart!! 

Jeff

Comments

[Selena Horner]

I came really, really close to purchasing that book last weekend. Maybe I should have, huh?

Another view, do we even take the tea?