Axiom 10: Poison the Well

I will never forget the first time I heard this saying by a friend of mine from Chicago. I do not recall the details of what we were discussing, but I do recall him saying to me, “Are you trying to poison the well?” I was not sure exactly what he meant, so he told me. “You know what their objection to your idea is going to be so you are taking the power out of it before they even state it.”

He was right. That is exactly what I was doing. I still do that in almost every situation. I do it in message and lesson preparation. I do it in staff meetings. I do it in vision talks. I do it is sales calls. I will even do it in one on one motivational conversation. I do it without even thinking about it anymore.

This axiom was probably covered in my early speech classes under the topic of audience analysis. Think about the group to whom you will be speaking and how they will react to what you are saying. If you can anticipate it, then address it ahead of time. If you know what the contents of the well where their objections are kept, then poison that well ahead of time. Reduce the power of the objection.

I am not talking about manipulation here. In order to poison the well, you will need to recognize it, evaluate its merits, and address them in a logical fashion. Manipulation demeans people. I am talking about honestly evaluating their ideas so you can address them before they see daylight. Do not deny the reality or the existence of their objection, but do not allow it to stop you when you honestly think you have evaluated them and know the best direction.

If you can poison the well, you may avoid a much more volatile conflict in the future.