It was 1990.
Andre Agassi hadn’t beaten world number 2 Boris Becker in any of their three previous encounters.
A tournament in Indian Wells changed that.
And for the next 9 out of 10 matches, Agassi, the world number 4, dominated the towering German.
All because of a tongue.
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Through careful observation, Agassi worked out that Becker poked his tongue in the direction he was going to serve.
As Agassi later explained, the hard part wasn’t returning Becker’s serve. It was not letting Becker know that this behavioural pattern was making his game predictable.
Would it surprise you to know that you’re surrounded by poking tongues?
That people are giving you signals, often without realising they are.
Because human behaviour is broadly predictable.
We know, for example, that people will typically prefer the easy way over the hard way.
That people will ask for more options than they need.
That what they say may not be what they end up doing.
And that change won’t happen until they feel safe enough to try.
Next time you are thinking about how to engage a customer or colleague, the answer is probably on the tip of their tongue.
What signals are you missing because you're too focused on your own game?
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