I have had some difference of opinion with someone i have to do business with. The last correspondence from this person was a lengthy email full of allegations. Being the big cuddly teddy bear that I am, when I was first read the email I found it quite upsetting.

How did i approach this.

First of all I took some advice that my father always gave me. Write a letter that you never send. I did this and I am currently drafting a new one to send.

Now this person is a lot more articulate and better at getting the upper hand in arguments. So what do i do?

The second person I am going to turn to is Tom Hagen from the Godfather and try not to personalise it, think of it strictly as business.


Tom Hagen: "Sonny. This is business not personal."

And next I will use advice from Cousin Vinny. Prove that the argument appears sound but after you analyse each allegation the argument has no substance.



Vinny Gambini: Let me show you something.
[he holds up a playing card, with the face toward Billy]
Vinny Gambini: He's going to show you the bricks. He'll show you they got straight sides. He'll show you how they got the right shape. He'll show them to you in a very special way, so that they appear to have everything a brick should have. But there's one thing he's not gonna show you.
[turns the card, so that its edge is toward Billy]
Vinny Gambini: When you look at the bricks from the right angle, they're as thin as this playing card. His whole case is an illusion, a magic trick. It has to be an illusion,