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Pizza Man
Copyright © All rights reserved
By Ken Chapman, Ph.D.
Ken Chapman & Associates, Inc.
In 1993, FBI agents conducted a raid of the Southwoods Psychiatric
Hospital in San Diego. It was under investigation for medical insurance
fraud. After hours of reviewing medical records, the agents had worked up an
appetite. The agent in charge of the investigation called a nearby pizza
parlor to order a quick dinner for his colleagues. This is how the telephone
conversation actually unfolded:
Agent: Hello, I would like to order 19 large pizzas and 67 cans of
soda.
Pizza man: And where would you like them delivered?
Agent: We are with the psychiatric hospital.
Pizza man: The psychiatric hospital?
Agent: That’s right. I’m an FBI agent.
Pizza man: You’re an FBI agent?
Agent: That’s correct. Just about everybody here is.
Pizza man: And you’re at the psychiatric hospital?
Agent: That’s correct and make sure you don’t go to the
front doors. We have them locked. You will have to go around to the back
service entrance to deliver the pizzas.
Pizza man: And you say you are all FBI agents?
Agent: That’s right. How soon can you have them here?
Pizza man: And everyone at the psychiatric hospital is an FBI
agent?
Agent: That’s right. We’ve been here all day and we’re starving.
Pizza man: How are you going to pay for all this?
Agent: I have my checkbook right here.
Pizza man: And you are all FBI agents?
Agent: That’s right. Everyone here is an FBI agent.
Can you remember to bring the pizzas and sodas to the service entrance in the
rear? We have the front doors locked.
Pizza man: I don’t think so!
Sometimes a healthy dose of doubt is reasonable and prudent. Even so, it is
always in a team’s best interest to give each other the benefit of the
doubt. Granting others the benefit of the doubt means beginning
with the assumption that others are well-intentioned. It means withholding
judgment until we understand the intent, the circumstances, and the facts.
For more information about Ken
Chapman and Associates’ Leadership Development Programs, contact Ken Chapman
at 205.366.0265 or email Ken at
kchapman@leaderscode.com.
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