The Last Lecture

The Last Lecture
45
Send Out Thin Mints
A S PART of my responsibilities, I used to be an academic reviewer.
That meant I’d have to ask other professors to read densely written
research papers and review them. It could be tedious, sleep-inducing
work. So I came up with an idea. I’d send a box of Girl Scout Thin
Mints with every paper that needed to be reviewed. “Thank you for
agreeing to do this,” I’d write. “The enclosed Thin Mints are your
reward. But no fair eating them until you review the paper.”
That put a smile on people’s faces. And I never had to call and
nag them. They had the box of Thin Mints on their desks. They
knew what they had to do.
Sure, sometimes I had to send a reminder email. But
when I’d ping people, all I needed was one sentence: “Did you
eat the Thin Mints yet?”
I’ve found Thin Mints are a great communication tool. They’re also
a sweet reward for a job well done.
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