Orange Juice Test
Updated Sunday, January 17, 2010
A man walks into a Hotel conference room and asks to have fresh squeezed orange juice for all of his audience. It has to be squeezed within two hours of being served. Nothing bottled! In truth, he doesn’t want this service because he knows it would be expensive and out of their normal mode of operation. But depending on the answer he gets back, he will make a decision about reserving the room or not. What would you say as the room manager? I will explain.
Some real time wasters have embittered my reading lately. Let me tell you, a 4.5 rating on Amazon guarantees nothing! Reading The Secrets of Consulting was not a time waster. I would rate it as 4 stars.
One principle that came out of it can work for some business types. The man with the orange juice request was looking for one answer: “Yes, we can do it, here’s the price”. If the manager would have said they can’t do it, or he can do it at no extra charge, that wouldn’t have worked. Services should be available at an expense.
Weindberg explains trade-offs this way: If your client wants it faster or larger, give it to them, but the tradeoff will be a higher price. Many times clients want everything and they want it now at the best quality. This principle helps me remember what is possible, and negotiations to make it worthwhile.
There were plenty of good principles in this readable book. Weinberg is a technical consultant with a strong taste for principles and illustrations. However, if I were to rethink the title to help my colleagues understand it’s usefulness in the workplace, it might be: Wisdom and Influence in the Workplace.
About the author. I'm Adam Temple. After a degree in religion I ended up in the business world and just love it. Sermonspice.com was my first big splash as it's now a multi-million dollar company (which I love saying!). Bixly.com is the next notable effort. Expert programming seriously low prices. It came about as a last ditch effort to avoid working security detail. Bixly reminds me of adolescence: thriving with health and potential, but still learning.