And now is the best time.
If you're doing something generous, if you're building something worthwhile, if you're making an important ruckus…
Do it today.
You don't need more time, you simply need to decide.
Originally the work of lawyers, it’s a concept that’s spreading, aided by the immediacy and unfiltered nature of social media.
In short: When you use contradictory excuses/statements to make an argument. Freud used this example:
A man who was accused by his neighbour of having returned a kettle in a damaged condition. He offered three arguments in rebuttal.
“I returned the kettle undamaged”
“It was already damaged when I borrowed it”
“I never borrowed it in the first place”
This is a dumb way to win a logical argument, because without a doubt, you’re lying in at least some of these statements.
Kettle logic is actually a glimpse into how the emotional side of our brain works. And of course, the emotional side is 95% of our brain. It’s squirming and the words simply get spun out.
When a customer or colleague begins to use kettle logic, the useful response is to seek out the emotions behind it. Because dismantling the logic part of kettle logic does nothing to get you closer to what the person really needs to talk about.
Yes, it's true that your hammer has a wooden handle.
But throwing it in the fireplace to get a few BTUs out of it is a huge waste.
The same thing is true of your reputation, of the relationships you have, of your hard-won trust.
Don't burn it just because you're a little chilled.
A mistake is something you learn from… you did it wrong, you’ll do it better next time.
A marketing failure is a mismatch between what you built and the market.
And a problem is an invention waiting to be built, an invitation to find a solution.
Once a computer (or a player piano) begins to do a task, part of the appeal goes away.
Yes, the goods or services might be identical, but the story we tell ourselves about what they took to create disappears.
Effort is insufficient, but extraordinary effort (and our perception of that effort) can add value.
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