We often hear about giving people choice, especially to encourage debate and deliver variations of opinion; even to offer customers choice. Let’s face it, we’d all rather make a choice, even if our choices are limited.

Sometimes though, as a business, as a supplier, or even in personal interaction you just need a ‘yes’ or ‘no’. Encouraging a direction response from another human being can sometimes be hard in those instances, in fact Seth Godin’s example would certainly make a hetrosexual wearer of jeans think long and hard about what they wore with the request…

When I was in college, a local human rights group posted up signs around campus one Monday. They read:
On Wednesday
Wear Blue Jeans
If You Are Gay

It does very much force the issue though. As the asker of a direct question you may not get the response you wanted, which is worth bearing in mind before getting too brash, but at least you’ll have an answer. And, the very brashness of the question is the thing that would have forced out a reply, rather than a fence sitting situation.