Eliminate the Middle Ground

Would you rather? Have all the questions? Or, have all the answers? Sounds witty and profound doesn’t it?

It’s really not. It’s actually even a fallacy. A fallacy of choices, aka false dilemma. You may have read or heard it called a false dichotomy. In layman’s terms?… the either-or fallacy.

Would you rather? Have all the questions? Or, have all the answers?

What’s that you say? Well, when I pose the question this way, it only presents two options. So, while you’re trying to figure out which one I want you to say (possibly so you can say the opposite and present your argument that way,) I’m chuckling to myself that you have allowed me to box you in.

Chuckling, because you should recognize this tactic as soon as it leaves my mouth. Even if you don’t know all of the technical terms, you should feel it as something that limits you, or corrals you.

On the other hand, all people desire this some of the time. Even I want this, sometimes. When I talk to an expert, I want them to narrow the choices down for me and based on the information they have gathered, give me what they feel are the best two choices, then hand it off to me to decide. I don’t want a million options. Just give me two.

And, the person you’re persuading does, also. So, do your homework, then do it for your customer, then give them two choices.

Don’t worry, if they want more, they’ll indicate this to you, some how. A look, a sound, a movement, or a blatant question of “what else are my options.” Then, don’t do like some people and give a bold extreme option to move away from and make the first two look good in comparison, give them what you now think they would need, want or would like to hear.

Here’s an interesting side note. Doing a Compfight.com search of “middle ground” for Flickr.com photos to use for this post results in almost only pictures of military maneuvers. Hmmmm…

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You’re either part of the solution or part of the problem. -Eldridge Cleaver

Over time it’s going to be important for nations to know they will be held accountable for inactivity,” he said. “You’re either with us or against us in the fight against terror. -George W. Bush

OK, OK, one from both sides of the fence, just to be “fair.”

The hottest places in Hell are reserved for those who in time of moral crisis preserve their neutrality. -John F. Kennedy

Photo Credit: By Julia Manzerova Julia Manzerova on Flickr.com