Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Whack Your Head Wednesday

Do the Unexpected

#59 In 1334, Hochosterwitz Castle was besieged by the Duchess of Tyrol. As time wore on, the defenders became desperate: their last food was an ox. The Duchess's situation also was severe: her troops had become unruly, and she had urgent matters elsewhere. Then, the castle's commander had an idea that must have seemed utter folly to his men. He had the last ox thrown over the wall in front of the enemy. The Duchess interpreted this scornful message to mean that the defenders had so much food that they could waste it.  At this, the discouraged Duchess quit her siege. Because the commander did the opposite of what the Duchess expected, he made her believe that her siege wasn't working. What surprising tactic can you use to reach your objective?

1 comment:

Alice said...

Awesome story! I'm a timid person, so even if I should come up with such a great idea, I would probably never have the courage to carry it out.