THE SOLUTION

An Architect designed a fifty storey building which provided too few elevators. It did not take long for the building to get an unpleasant reputation as tenants complained of the inconvenience of having to spend more time to wait in the lobby for the elevators to take them to their floors. The building owners were getting worried as tenants and clients threatened to move out putting at risk their millions of investments.

The owners consulted a psychologist if he could think of any possible way to motivate the tenants to stay despite the perceived dissatisfaction with the service elevators. 

They psychologist looked into the problem and studied the matter at hand. It took him a couple of months to come up with a solution for which he billed the building owner seven thousand dollars for his research. He met with the building owners and said, “Do it with mirrors.”

Full wall mirrors were installed in the lobby where the tenants and clients gathered to wait for the elevators. It was observed that the tenants forgot about their impatience in having to wait three or more minutes for the elevators to come down. They were busy looking at themselves and observing  others in the mirrors.

The owners were spared of the impending loss of their investments.

The lesson is pretty clear. People are more interested in themselves than anything else.

(Adapted from the book by Cecil G. Osborne, The Art of Getting Along With People, Copyright 1980, Zondervan Corporation)

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