Real-Life Decision Making
A man named Will has called you up this morning. He doesn't tell you
who he is, or where he is calling from. "I just read one of your articles
on sexual behavior in a scientific journal," he says. He has a very polite
manner and speaks eloquently.
"I thought it was a marvelous piece," he says. You thank him for the compliment.
"I was wondering if you might write a piece for one of my publications?"
he asks. You perk up. Many of your contracts come from people reading your
work.
Scientific writing isn't your specialty. You usually write business
copy, but on one occasion a scholar approached you and asked you to rewrite
the material he had ready to go into a scientific journal.
Nonetheless, you have no objection to writing scientific material, whatever
the topic.
You ask him to be more specific about what he is looking for. He tells
you he wants a new type of article to go into his Love Shack magazine. He
is looking for material that will attract a different type of reader to the
magazine.
You hesitate. "Tell me more about what you want," you say. "What is this
magazine like?"
"It's always got a great cover and great articles," he says, then
adds quickly, "It has the odd pornographic piece. I'm willing to pay
you $3,000 to give a new image to the magazine.
"I think your PhD will make it sell."
You now have a better idea about what this man wants. Do you negotiate
a contract to write something for him? Or do you thank him very much and wait
for the next phone call?
What do you do?