I remember originally hearing about this rule being used by a college basketball coach to improve the free throw shooting of one of his star players. The player was a large physical presence, and once he got the ball within about six feet of the basket he simply couldn't be stopped. Because of his size and power no one else in the league could match up with him. As a result, he was fouled early and often since the entire league knew full well of his free throw shooting problems. The league average for free throw shooting was 65%, yet this player had only shot 50% the previous two seasons.

Finally, his coach pulled him off to the side and made him an offer he couldn't refuse. The coach told the player, "You miss more free throws than any other player on this team. You say you just can't make free throws. But what if I were to pay you ten thousand dollars to shoot above the league average for the rest of the season? Could you hit 65% then?" The player immediately responded, "Yeah, I know I can!" "Yeah, I know you can too," replied the coach, "only there's just one thing. I'm not going to pay you ten thousand dollars. You are going up to that line and every time you shoot, I want you to think you're shooting for that ten thousand dollars." Thus a 50% free throw shooter became a 70% free throw shooter, for a coach whose teams appear in the NCAA tournament more than any other coach in his region.

Let's look at a different scenario. You decide that your office needs to differentiate itself from other offices in the area, and you determine that increased customer service will be the first area you address. You collect data from either a demographics firm or an anonymous patient survey, and you discover that 60% of your patients are from two-income families where the husband and wife both work. Not surprisingly, your patient survey indicates that many of your patients would appreciate early morning and late afternoon appointments, so that either the mother or father could watch the kids, or so that a work day didn't need to be missed for a dental appointment. Now, here comes the fun part - selling your staff on the idea.

Let's say that two out of your four employees tell you that while they think it's a great idea, there is simply no way they can start work at 7 a.m. two days and stay until 7 p.m. the other two days. Nice idea doctor, but it's impossible! Oh really? I fly all over the country and 75% of all the flight attendants I talk to have children. Yet, somehow they manage to be gone four days at a time. You ask them if starting at 7 a.m. two days a week and staying until 7 p.m. another two days would be excessive, and they will laugh in your face. Excessive is being gone four days at a time and working in an industry where airplanes decide to fall out of the sky for no good reason once or twice a year.

So I borrow a page from the coach's book and tell my staff, "I know you have to take your son to school and that your husband wants dinner ready the second he steps in the door. I've heard all the excuses, and they don't cut it. Here's what we'll do. I'm going to bribe you. It's strictly against office policy, but if you come in at 7 a.m. and stay until 7 p.m. for a full year, I'm going to give you each ten thousand dollars. For an extra ten thousand dollars do you think you could rearrange your car pool schedule and be here on time?" "You bet I can!" is always the reaction. "Great! There's just one thing. We'll start at 7 a.m. two days and stay until 7 p.m. two days, but I'm not going to pay you the ten thousand dollars. But I want you to act exactly, exactly, as if you think I'm going to, because now I know you can do it. It's just a question of motivation."

This is not meant to be used in a demeaning way towards staff, but rather a way to point out to people that very few obstacles are impossible to overcome if the proper motivation and attitude is in place. To illustrate this, let's look at the problem in yet another setting - your head. The problem, whatever it may be, is yours. Maybe you'd rather sleep an extra hour than run four miles. Maybe you'd rather play golf every Friday than learn how to do a superior porcelain veneer at the Las Vegas Institute for Cosmetic Dentistry. Maybe you don't do complete case presentations because you're afraid of rejection. However, if you were given an extra ten thousand dollars, could you, would you, get your act together?