Who’s doing you a favor?
A recent post about the math of favors on Seth Godin’s blog caught our attention. Godin suggests that any time you enter into a transaction of some kind, you are thinking one of three things:
- I’m doing you a favor, bud
- Hey, this guy is doing me a favor
- This is a favor less transaction
Godin goes on to describe how this internal monologue about favors colors our interactions. He points out, in particular, that bad things happen when one person thinks they’re doing the other a favor, but the other person doesn’t act like it. And ultimately, he concludes that the key to success is this: always act as if they other guy is doing you a favor.
How might this approach–one of gratitude, generosity and humility–change how lawyers experience themselves and how the world experiences lawyers? What kind of impact could the legal profession have on its profits, people and planet by adopting this philosophy? Share your thoughts below.
