Agile Business Coach

I want a freebie, and I want it now.

Just read a comment on JB Rainsberger's blog about peoples attitude to Freebies. It reminds me of a story a friend of mine told me about attitudes towards freebies. Several years ago he used to do free therapy sessions for people. Now he insists that the person puts some skin in the game personally. Adults pay and if the child has a session paid for by a friend, he sets them a task... ten different wild flowers, bake a cake for me... even though their parents pay, the child needs to put some skin in the game. The reason. A few years ago when he was doing freebies, he was at a party on a friday night when his mobile rang, One of his patients was having trouble and wanted to see him NOW! He explained it wasn't possible because he was at a party. The patient said he had to "because he owed them!" For some people, the idea of another person performing a charitable act is beyond them, as a result if they are not paying, they assume they giving something away for free. I have two small children. You may see a correlation between my lack of blogs and the arrival of my children. You would be right. I hear the "NOW!" word whenever they are not getting their own way. I feel that this lack of respect for people giving freely and the instant gratification that means people want perfection for free, NOW indicate the growing infantalisation of society in general. This does not means everyone is an infant, just a growing majority. So JB, next time you hear about this kind of incident, ask them to put some skin in the game (publically?). "That you to Bob. He suggested a great idea. Unfortunately I'm too busy to do this but seeing as this is something important to Bob, I hope he will provide that service for me." Alternatively, use my normal subtle approach and tell them to "F**k off".