The Yes And No Continuum

I read with interest the freshly vellumed Tips Act. Meaning UK businesses must now by law pass on tips direct to employees.

Is this "barmy" news for customer service overall? Merely rewarding the shoddy worker at the sharp end?

Well, despite being no AA Gill (who is, although Giles Coren has his moments) one restaurant critic - of a quarter-century service he adds - framed it this way.

"Well, of course, the answer is yes and no. But ... I can say that the answer nudges towards the “no”."

Suggesting that service experienced in his daily diet of fine dining eateries is 'good, and getting better'. Go figure.

Still the point is not to rail against this, or use as an excuse to pillory any perceived crazed American 'culture' and compare to differing perhaps more enlightened global attitudes.

After all, our favourite places, special occasions or memorable meals often lodge pleasingly in our mind not through food, wine or company alone, but entire experience. Very much including service.

What struck me was the acceptance of a continuum.

You'd think there are binary choices. In the way politicians are often goaded. Where a question to them ends in the scream, 'it's a yes or no!'

Goodbye nuance.

Introducing this sliding scale can be a welcome relief to someone where forcing an response could cause alienation, withdrawal or unease.

I've mentioned this before, but where there are two supposedly mutually exclusive options, on a video call you can draw the straight horizontal line and ask someone where they currently sit on it between the 'A' and 'B' at each end.

With the Yes and No poles, you have potentially a large zone along the middle for Maybe.

Allowing starting from a point of, 'this is likely one of those 'yes and no' answers... '.

Often you're not after a definitive stance, merely a position of the moment.

A further way of framing this, is especially useful for the statistically minded.

As you can sub in the probability equivalents of one and zero.

In any of the cases, to bring in the notion of subtlety, gradations and general grey areas into play which finds which way they're 'nudging' is often to build a platform and make progress.

Plot where they are, record it, and make it work in your direction.