Chapter Twelve
The Quid Pro Quo Answer
Case Studies: Code of Hammurabi • Peter Rawlinson, Lucid Motors • Reed Hastings, Netflix • John Legere and Neville Ray, T-Mobile
An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.1
Code of Hammurabi
1792–1750 b.c.e.
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the first known use of quid pro quo in about 1535 was a medical reference.2 Since then, the phrase, signifying a “what for what” or even exchange, has expanded to refer to legal documents, business negotiations, social exchanges, and even interpersonal relationships. Quid pro quo is also the perfect guideline for the next step of the Q&A cycle: answering questions. The correct way to answer any question is to tell your audience what they want to know.
After ...
Get In the Line of Fire, 3rd Edition now with the O’Reilly learning platform.
O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.
