Exchange the Role of the Guest for the Host
故事全文
Once a thief worked with two robbers to steal from a house at night. From the rooftop, the robbers lowered the thief down into the house with a rope. The thief was to collect all the valuables and tied the loots to a rope so that the robbers could haul them up. They did this three times, and the robbers calculated that they had collected enough valuables.
On the last haul, the thief hid himself inside a wooden box, along with some jewelries. The robbers found the box to be very heavy when they hauled it up. They thought that it must be something very valuable this time. So they got greedy and decided to take off with the box, leaving the thief behind. What they did not know was that the thief was already hidden inside the box.
After walking a distance, they took a break on the roadside because the box was too heavy. The thief thought that it should be morning by now. Once he heard the voices of a group of passers-by. He thought to himself, "These two guys are really despicable. They abandoned me just like that!" So he shouted out loud, "Help! Help! Robbers!" The robbers did not expect to hear any sound coming out of the box. They were scared so they ran away. The passers-by opened the box. The thief came out and made up a story about how he was robbed and kidnapped by the two robbers In the end, he walked away with all the loot.
Strategy 30: Exchange the Role of the Guest for the Host
During a visit, the host usually initiates while the guest responds. So exchanging the role of the guest for the role of the host means to take the initiative of making something happen instead of waiting passively.
