What Wyatt Earp Would Do With Cell Phones

We’ve all experienced it.  While watching a movie in a theater, suddenly our attention shifts to the sound of someone’s cell phone ringing with their annoying ringtone.  At a conference, a speaker delivers a presentation, only to be interrupted by the ding-a-ling of a mobile, whose owner has the audacity to answer it loudly while walking out of the room.  And yes, at a funeral, during a heart-felt eulogy for a loved one, a lady frantically fumbles through her purse to locate her smart phone and switch off Beethoven’s Fifth with a feigned “it’s not my fault” look on her face.

When facilitating partner retreats or giving a speech at a conference, I ask everyone to turn off their cell phones.  This request is honored by the vast majority of those in attendance but of course, there are always a select few who feel they are above the law.

How would Wyatt Earp handle cell phones?  When the legendary lawman assumed the Marshall’s position in the lawless town of Tombstone, he decreed that anyone entering town had to check their guns at OK Corral at the edge of town.   This method proved ingenious and highly effective.

I recently had breakfast with a fellow consultant, who told me about a Managing Partner who pulled a “Wyatt Earp” at a partner meeting.  Tired of the ring of cell phones despite his admonition to silence the devices, he ordered all partners to put their cell phones in a basket at the door.  What a great idea!

I shared this technique with some of my consulting colleagues.  Jennifer Wilson said “I like to kid partners at my retreats about not wanting to seem strange by looking down at their lap with both hands down there “doing something” while the rest of us are watching.”  Rich Rinehart had a great thought: he said “Cell phones, the drug of our times.”

Wyatt would concur!