On a mild but sultry day we stepped down the hill to visit Grandpa and Grandma for dinner. The air conditioner was running, but we could hardly tell because all six kids ran in and out the door and never, ever—not even once—shut the door behind them. One or another adult always shouted after them, “SHUT THE DOOR!” but it didn’t seem to make any impression.
Then I remembered what our new college president, Kevin Roberts, explained at a meeting yesterday. In the advertising business, an old rule of thumb dictates that people need to hear something seven times before they remember it.
So the next time a child blew inside and left the door swinging behind, I stood her in front of me, solemnly explained the Rule of Seven, and then said:
“Close the door when you come through.
“Close the door when you come through.
“Close the door when you come through.
“Close the door when you come through.
“Close the door when you come through.
“Close the door when you come through.
“Close the door when you come through.”
And by golly, that child shut the door from then on. So I gave “the treatment” to the next child and to the one after that. Since the youngest can’t open the door by herself, only two children remained who still left the door open. But by that point, one of the three “treated” kids always came behind to fix the situation.
That was easy. One problem solved, 683,812,075 to go.
