Putting People Under Pressure

Occasionally, people will reveal the truth accidentally when they are placed under pressure. As the story of Achilles’ recruitment shows, this can sometimes be a useful tactic to employ.

The Greeks wanted Achilles, the greatest mortal warrior, to fight in the Trojan War. Achilles’ mother, however, didn’t want her son to fight, for if he fought he was destined to die. Consequently, when the Greeks came to recruit Achilles, his mother disguised him as a girl and hid him among the king’s daughters. The Greeks were unable to determine who Achilles was, and they were unwilling to perform the necessary physical examinations to determine which “female” was hiding her sex. Odysseus, however, was able to trick Achilles into revealing his manhood.

Odysseus placed in the courtyard of the palace women’s goods, among which he put a shield and spear, and he gave the order for the trumpet suddenly to sound the call to arms. Achilles, believing the enemy was at hand, divested himself of his woman’s clothing and seized the shield and spear. From this action he was recognized.^[9]

Achilles momentarily forgot where he was and considered himself at battle. Odysseus fooled Achilles and got him to reveal more than he intended to. Odysseus recognized that when Achilles was put under pressure, he would crack and revert to form.

Practical applications of this trick include when an interviewer asks very hostile questions to a job candidate to see if he can handle the stress, or when a manager asks her employees which of them has a lot of free time to work on a new project. An unthinking employee eager to please his boss might volunteer to work on the project, not realizing what he has just signaled. The key in these examples is that when people have to act quickly, they might reveal more about themselves than they should.

You could apply this surprise principle to a supplier who has been providing you with low-quality goods and claiming that he couldn’t possibly do better. Perhaps, in a meeting, you could tell the supplier that for just the next batch it’s really important that there are zero defects, and you will pay him double if he manages it. If the supplier is not too sharp, he might comply, and then you will have proof of his true capacities.

^[9]Rose (1933), 96.