Surely you know someone who always seems to agree. It doesn’t matter what is being discussed, that person is right in the thick of it, nodding their head in concurrence. Here’s something fun to try the next time such a person comes to you with a question. I’ll run you through a conversation I had with just such a person earlier today.

agreeable: “John, I’ve got a question for you. We’ve got a case where…. (detailed description omitted) How would you handle that?”

John: “Well, we could approach it like….” (detailed description omitted)

agreeable: “Hey, that sounds good. That’s what we’ll do.”

John: “Well, I’m not sure I would do it THAT way. I don’t think it would be fair to our clients…. (detailed description omitted) It is one option, but it’s not the option I would pick. Another way we could take this would be to….” (detailed description omitted)

agreeable: “Yes John, that makes a lot of sense. I’ll let my people know how…”

John: “Sorry, I didn’t mean to lead you on, but I wouldn’t do it that way either. There are just some things that the court can do that we can’t. The only other option I can think of would be to….” (detailed description omitted)

agreeable: “Is that what you would do?”

John: “Yeah, I think that’s how I would do it.”

agreeable: “Great, sounds good John.”

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You might think that I see myself as some kind of superior intellect, playing with the lesser mortals like a cat plays with a partially chewed lizard. Oh, how far from the truth we’ve strayed! I’m just trying to keep things a little interesting. I’ve found that a little bit of interesting can go a long way, and judging by this entry we’re really talking about a little bit.