Why don't we chuck tantrums?

Walking to work I noticed a little boy, probably 3 years of age, dragging his feet behind his father. His father was walking swiftly, in a business suit and tie. The father was regularly turning back to look at the boy, making sure he was there, and reminding him to "hurry up, Daddy's got a meeting this morning".

The little boy was mumbling something about wanting food and not wanting to walk anymore. Touching everything along his path the little boy decided to stand still. He was committed to his decision not to walk anymore and was still mumbling about being hungry.

The father turns around, walks back to the boy. He leans down and speaks to the boy. From the look on the boy's face the words said must have been something like 'you are not eating a treat now, you are going to fun school, and I am going to work. Pick your feet up and get moving'.

Not the response the little boy was hoping to hear.

The little boy looked up at his father, then back at the ground and then wailed so loudly the pigeons were frightened and flew away. He continued crying, screaming and shaking his head. Then as the father looked like he had had just about enough the little boy dropped to the ground and had a full blown tantrum. At this time the father continued to try and reason with the little boy, the little boy just got louder. Sure enough a few moments later the father reached into his backpack and pulled out a treat. The boy got up, took the treat and started walking on his way hand in hand with his father. Happy days were back.

Wow, I thought. Success. Well done little man!

Now imagine using that tactic in front of your board of directors to get the outcomes sought. What was that Mr Jones there is no money in the budget this year for a computer software upgrade ..... Waaaaahhhhhhhhhh. Or during wage discussion time with your manager. I'm sorry Kelly there is no funds for any pay rise this year ..... Waaaaaaahhhhhh. Just let it out. Wail, scream, shake your head, fall on the ground and roll around in circles. Would it actually work?

When did we grow out of tantrums?

From watching the few I've had the displeasure of watching it seems on many occasions it is an excellent tactic for success. I guess at some point we saw ourselves in the shop window and saw the annoyed faces of onlookers and decided that we needed a different strategy. I guess after a while the other person involved actually walked out or away. You just can't have a tantrum without your desired audience watching. That's just foolish!

I'm starting to wonder whether I should try the old tantrum technique again with my boyfriend. ‘But I want a Dyson’ ‘no Hun, we have a vacuum we don't need it..... Waaaahhhhhhh’ right in the middle of the Good Guys shop. ‘Ok, ok you can have the Dyson’.  Woohoo. My first success - but at a cost as I can never go back to that Good Guys store ever again and given the look on my boyfriends face I cannot be sure how much longer he will stand by my side and introduce me to his friends if I try this tactic again!