Columbo Tactics: I

As I suggested last time, the fictional homicide detective Lt. Columbo has a uniquely disarming and effective style that helps him crack the most difficult cases. By making suspects feel safe from his seemingly inept investigation, and pretending to seek enlightenment and assistance from the suspects, he tricks them into revealing critical details about how they committed the crimes. Columbo's strategy is based on three principles:

• Keep the suspect calm and confident
• Pretend to be seeking education for yourself
• Seek explanations more than once from different perspectives

In the workplace, a situation in which the Columbo strategy is helpful occurs when a project manager (Patricia), whose project is struggling, must deal with a committee of senior managers who are formed into an Emergency Reaction Force (ERF), to help Patricia sort out her troubled project.

Here's Part I of a catalog of tactics based on Columbo's tactics, but which are also applicable to Patricia's situation.

Choose deference, not confrontation

Patricia always, Keep them calm and confident,
pretend to be seeking education,
and seek explanations
more than once from
different perspectivesalways defers to the members of the ERF, often with sheepish self-deprecation. In the minds of the members of the ERF, their role is to help Patricia by educating her as to how she should have been doing her job. The fact that they are nearly clueless as to how to do Patricia's job can never be part of the message Patricia delivers to them. Patricia consistently presents a stance of gratitude for whatever pearls of wisdom the ERFs might toss her way. She even solicits their advice to help them feel comfortable in the role of her coach or advisor.

For example, when the ERF directs her to take some action that she has already taken, and which didn't have the desired effect, Patricia wouldn't say, "We already tried that, and it didn't work, because of X, Y, and Z." Instead, she might say, "Hmm. Intriguing. But I'm a little confused. If X, or Y, or Z were to happen, wouldn't that create a problem?" I call this kind of question a "Hmm-Intriguing" question.

Some member of the ERF might then respond, "Don't worry about that. Just do as we say." That sounds like the worst case, but it's actually wonderful, because failure is likely. When failure occurs, Patricia can report, "I tried that idea, and it didn't work." If the ERF asks why, she can say "Because of X." She needn't say, "I warned you about this," because they know she did warn them. A few repetitions of this pattern might cause them to pay a little more attention when Patricia asks one of her "Hmm-Intriguing" questions.

"Hmm-Intriguing" questions are inherently deferential. In these questions, Patricia is asking for enlightenment, and most ERFs are only too glad to fall into the trap. They either give the do-as-we-say response, or conjure up some plausibility argument to justify their idea, which Patricia knows cannot work. Either way, the outcome is a potential opportunity to educate the ERF.

This dance can be frustrating at times for the Patricias of the world. But if we look upon it as an investment, the return on that investment is a reduction of the incidence of misinformed misdirection on the part of the ERFs.

Express affection, admiration, or respect

One technique Columbo uses with some of his suspects is the straightforward expression of affection, admiration, or respect. This tactic, which is often genuine, helps him achieve his strategic goal of keeping the suspect calm.

Patricia can emulate this tactic of Columbo's, though expressions of affection are a delicate matter in the workplace and best avoided. Expressing admiration and respect are certainly acceptable, though one must take care to be sincere — or at least to appear so. Done effectively, expressing admiration and respect helps to keep the members of the ERF receptive to Patricia's questions. And the ERFs want to help her, because the most important part of the whole exercise for them is validation of their superior skills and knowledge.

Get them talking and keep them talking

When the members of the ERF are talking, either to Patricia or among themselves, they're at risk of revealing the limits of their knowledge — or the depths of their ignorance. That's one reason why asking questions is Patricia's most effective method for generating teachable moments.

Columbo uses a variety of conversation starters to get his suspects talking. Examples: "One point I'd like your help in clearing up;" "There's something that keeps bothering me about that;" "You know, I'm a little confused about something;" "I can't figure out why X didn't happen;"

In some "starters," such as, "One little point I'd like your help in clearing up," he minimizes the import of what he's asking about. This has the effect of relaxing his suspect, so as to implement the strategic goal of keeping the suspect calm. In other starters, such as "You know, I'm a little confused about something," he minimizes his own skills of detection, so as to pretend to be asking for education for himself.

When the suspect answers Columbo's starter question, or any question, Columbo has a variety of techniques for keeping the suspect talking. Praise is a favorite: "Oh, right, yeah, you're right;" "Yeah, I forgot, but it's obvious now that you mention it." These comments allow him to segue smoothly into another starter question. After just two cycles of this exchange, the suspect is feeling very relaxed and might even continue talking without further prompting.

These tactics work well for Patricia, just as they are — no adaptation needed.

We'll continue next time with three more of Columbo's investigative tactics.   First issue in this series    Next issue in this series   Top    Next Issue

Is every other day a tense, anxious, angry misery as you watch people around you, who couldn't even think their way through a game of Jacks, win at workplace politics and steal the credit and glory for just about everyone's best work including yours? Read 303 Secrets of Workplace Politics, filled with tips and techniques for succeeding in workplace politics. More info

• Columbo: The complete series, box set of DVDs, starring Peter Falk.
• Steven Gaffney. "How to confront liars using the 'Columbo Method'," The Small Business Advocate blog, 2011.
• Debra Cassens Weiss. "The Best Way to Interrogate: Think Columbo," The ABA Journal, May 12, 2009.
• Mark D. Griffiths Ph.D. "The Psychology Of Columbo: A brief look at the TV detective's lessons for us all," Psychology Today blog, February 20, 2018.

Your comments are welcome

About Point Lookout

Thank you for reading this article. I hope you enjoyed it and found it useful, and that you'll consider recommending it to a friend.

This article in its entirety was written by a human being. No machine intelligence was involved in any way.

Point Lookout is a free weekly email newsletter. Browse the archive of past issues. Subscribe for free.

Support Point Lookout by joining the Friends of Point Lookout, as an individual or as an organization.

Do you face a complex interpersonal situation? Send it in, anonymously if you like, and I'll give you my two cents.

Related articles

More articles on Workplace Politics:

Devious Political Tactics: Credit Appropriation

Managers and supervisors who take credit for the work of subordinates or others who feel powerless are using a tactic I call Credit Appropriation. It's the mark of the unsophisticated political operator.

A Critique of Criticism: II

To make things better, we criticize, but we often miss the mark. We inflict pain without meaning to, and some of that pain comes back to us. How can we get better outcomes, while reducing the risks of inflicting pain?

Why Others Do What They Do

If you're human, you make mistakes. A particularly expensive kind of mistake is guessing incorrectly why others do what they do. Here are some of the ways we get this wrong.

Projects as Proxy Targets: I

Some projects have detractors so determined to prevent project success that there's very little they won't do to create conditions for failure. Here's Part I of a catalog of tactics they use.

Quasi-Narcissistic Quasi-Subordinates

One troublesome kind of workplace collaboration includes those that combine people of varied professions and ranks for a specific short-term mission. Many work well, but when one of the group members displays quasi-narcissistic behaviors, trouble looms.

See also Workplace Politics and Workplace Politics for more related articles.

Forthcoming issues of Point Lookout

Coming June 4: White-Collar Contractor Sabotage

Modern firms in competitive, dynamic markets draw on many types of employer/employee relationships, including contractors. By providing privileges and perks preferentially among these different types, they risk creating a caldron of resentments that can reduce organizational effectiveness. Available here and by RSS on June 4.

And on June 11: More Things I've Learned Along the Way: VI

When I gain an important insight, or when I learn a lesson, I make a note. Example: If you're interested in changing how a social construct operates, knowing how it came to be the way it is can be much less useful than knowing what keeps it the way it is. Available here and by RSS on June 11.

Coaching services

I offer email and telephone coaching at both corporate and individual rates. Contact Rick for details at rbrenubcqSvusyBsQaEDwner@ChacfhuriyFKgDguTpuYoCanyon.com or (650) 787-6475, or toll-free in the continental US at (866) 378-5470.

Get the ebook!

Past issues of Point Lookout are available in six ebooks:

• Get 2001-2 in Geese Don't Land on Twigs (PDF, )
• Get 2003-4 in Why Dogs Wag (PDF, )
• Get 2005-6 in Loopy Things We Do (PDF, )
• Get 2007-8 in Things We Believe That Maybe Aren't So True (PDF, )
• Get 2009-10 in The Questions Not Asked (PDF, )
• Get all of the first twelve years (2001-2012) in The Collected Issues of Point Lookout (PDF, )

Are you a writer, editor or publisher on deadline? Are you looking for an article that will get people talking and get compliments flying your way? You can have 500-1000 words in your inbox in one hour. License any article from this Web site. More info