Teaching a Garden to Weed Itself

Teaching a garden to weed itself basically means to get rid of everything bad and useless by making them go away on their own without you hassling into the matter. it can also mean tricking the guilty into revealing themselves.

king Solomon was the king of Israel renowned for his wisdom, honesty and wit.

One day, two women came to him holding a baby. Lets take the first one as woman A and the second as woman B. Woman A claimed that she was sleeping with her baby one night when woman B's baby died in woman B's arms who was also sleeping. Woman B arose from midnight and took woman A's baby for woman A. However, woman B denied this story and claimed the living baby hers and the dead baby the other woman's. One woman was blatantly lying ad the other was the true mother. So what to do?

King Solomon asked his courtier to fetch him a sword. He picked up the live baby and said that since there was no solid evidence of the baby being anybody's, the best way to solve the dispute was to cut the baby in half.

Woman A cried out saying,"Do not hurt the baby. It is better to let woman B keep the baby than to let it perish."

Woman B said," This is fair, king. Cut the baby. It shall neither be mine nor thine."

King Solomon awarded the baby to woman A. 

How did Solomon know the true mother? He reasoned that a cruel woman would go along with the baby-citing plan and the true mother would rather let go of the baby than to see it get cut.

Zappos was an unorthodox online shoe company who knew how to teach the garden to weed itself.

After hiring new recruits, Zappos offered them a chance to quit and also told them that they would get awarded $2000 for quitting and never coming back. Why? Think about it.

This offer gave the new employees to quit and it basically put them in a position of "Do you really care for the money or the job?" 

The CEO of Zappos, Tony Heish, figured that anybody who'd easily take the money would cost Zappos a lot more in the long run in terms of money, productivity and morale.

A person who is lying or cheating will always respond to a situation differently, like woman B or the employees who grabbed the $2000. To be successful or sift the guilty from the innocent when nobody steps forward to appeal their guilt, one must think of an incentive perfect for this. 'Pooling equilibrium' is a term used in economy for this.

So think. Open your mind. Don't be afraid to try out new things... after all thats what zappos taught the world. 

Acknowledgements: 'Think Like a Freak' Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner. 

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