I live near a man who owns some horses. It just so happened that the school bus stopped right at the gate to his horses’ field and, while he was at work, the school children would get off the bus and feed them horses. And the horses loved it! Mars Bars, crisps and stuff the kids had made in Food Tech.
The horses developed a taste for pepperoni pizza and. over time, they became fat.
So the man put up a sign that said, ‘Do not feed the horses’.
Did it work? Did it heck! The feeding frenzy continued, so the owner changed the sign. It now read ‘Please do not feed the horses!’
His polite approach also failed so sign #3 was installed; ‘DO NOT FEED THE HORSES. IT’S BAD FOR THEM!’
His problem continued until I bumped into him at a school fête. He knew I was a positive psychology enthusiast so he explained the problem in the hope of getting a simple solution. ‘How on earth can I stop the kids feeding my horses?’
I chuckled and wrote him a few words on a scrap of paper. The man looked at the paper and laughed. ‘No way!’ I smiled a knowing smile and the problem was cured.
The horses are now back to their normal weight, their coats shining and energy restored. If you saunter past their field there is now a sign that says, ‘We only eat apples and carrots.’
The message is simple and positive. It focuses on what we want to happen rather than what we don’t want. And, best of all, it works.
Ultimately, that’s what we do at Art of Brill. It’s simple and obvious, which is exactly why it works.