The knife and fork approach

Greetings!  I’m Scott Savoy, editor of writing services at www.sterlingcreations.ca.  It’s shaping up to be a pleasant weekend in my neck of the woods and I wish the same for you too.
Today, I am pleased to introduce an editorial by our president Donna J. Jodhan and she does a very interesting thing in this particular editorial.  She uses her love of food to explain herself.
Enjoy and have a great weekend.
 
 
The knife and fork approach
By Donna J. Jodhan
 
In the normal scheme of things, we use a knife and fork in combination to help us eat our meals.  In the same way, I am wondering if we should not use a strategy of a knife and fork approach to help us win more friends and keep our enemies close at hand.  In other words, the soft approach and the hard nosed tactics; a combination of both?
 
I often ask myself the following questions:  When is it best to speak up?  Or when is it best to just say nothing and walk away?  Which types of situations best suit using the soft approach and which types suits using a more hard nosed approach?  I don’t think that anyone can really give a definitive answer to these questions but for what it is worth here are my thoughts.
 
A combination of both is probably the best solution; the knife and fork approach where the knife is the hard nosed approach and the fork the softer touch.  Or maybe I should try and put it like this as follows:
Speak up whenever you think that your rights are being trampled upon.  (The knife approach).
Use the softer approach when your heart tells you that you should not hurt the other person. (The fork approach).
Use the knife approach whenever you feel that someone wants to encroach into your territory.
Use the fork approach whenever you feel that you need to stick up for a friend or associate. 
Use the knife approach if you feel that someone is deliberately trying to sabotage you.
Use the fork approach whenever you feel that diplomacy should rule over controversy.
Just my two cents worth for today.