When I was young, I was taught that if you have a puppy who likes to bite your hand, rather than pulling your hand away, you should push it ever so slightly further in. You don’t want to hurt the dog, of course, but if you make him kind of gag and spit out your hand, he’s much less likely to want to bite your hand again. It’s very effective.
As I’ve gotten older, I’ve discovered that this method works on humans, too. Not that humans go around biting your hand, of course. But if you are working on a project and someone is micromanaging to an annoying degree, rather than resisting or protesting, it’s often much more interesting, even fun, to give that person exactly what he asks for and then some.
Have a boss who wants you to both e-mail him and call him about every little thing? Oh, honey, fasten your seatbelt, because I’m going to ring the phone off the hook and flood your inbox to the extent that you’ll never see daylight again.
Is the department head asking for a “detailed” report on x, y, and z? Okay, you’re going to get the entire freakin’ alphabet, to the extent that you’ll be following up and justifying that report to your superiors for the next month. Oh, isn’t that what you wanted?
If your nipping puppy has even an ounce of intelligence in that anal retentive little noggin of his, he’ll soon learn to avoid all contact with you. Problem solved.
[Image credit: dog-adoption-and-training-guide.com]
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