Here’s a story with a little reminder of why contracts, terms and conditions, and fine print are so important. In a bet between our Business Development Manager (Bernard) and our Media Buyer (Hayden), Bernard said that he’d “chug a beer if [Hayden] makes 15 sales”. The next day, Hayden arrived at the office with glass that looked like a cross between a test tube and a Vuvuzela, stating that he made 70 sales instead of 15, so Bernard should have to chug 4 times the amount of beer. With such vague terms of the bet, there was no clear idea of whether or not Hayden was allowed to change the conditions. Let’s consider the facts:

• The value of “a beer” was never defined.
• There was no time limit set to determine what counts as “chugging”.
• It was never stated that the bet amount could or could not be multiplied.
• While we’re a business that loves our food/drink challenges, we’d prefer that employees don’t die from liquid asphyxiation.

Acting as judge, James made a call. Based on the facts presented, he ruled that Bernard was to drink one tall boy out of the glass, and that he had to put effort into chugging it, but was allowed to stop to breathe. When it came time to step up, Bernard managed to crush the challenge in 14 seconds.