You Catch More Flies with Honey

My grandmother used to tell me I'd catch more flies with honey than I would with vinegar, that I'd have better success accomplishing my ends by being positive.

I had a phone call the other day from a physician who was looking for a review about himself and couldn't find it - it turned out his name had been misspelled by the reviewer. He was a bit aggressive at the beginning of the call, but when we read the review together ("He is a brilliant doctor...") he was so touched that one of his patients had gone to the trouble of posting such admiration on the web, he softened and was thrilled: completely different.

I read once about a study that found that if a doctor was given a small present before making a diagnosis, the diagnosis was made quicker and more accurately. Not because the present was a bribe, but because the positive reinforcement stimulated the physician to higher alertness and effort.

I posted a very positive review of one of my physicians and when he saw it he called me and was so moved, even though I had said the same thing to him in person, that it made me aware of how frequently I assume that my doctors know how highly I regard them, how important to me they are.

It takes years of sustained effort to become a doctor, and the life and death responsibilities they carry can be overwhelming. It is nice to have a way to let them, and other people, know how much I appreciate them by writing a recommendation online.