What do diapers have to do with predicting the DJIA?

“And we’re back,” says the CNBC anchor to the fund manager. “Look into your crystal ball and tell us what level you see the DJIA ending the year.”

That’s a question that many fund managers do not enjoy answering.

If you are a bottom-up stock picker, you probably don’t care. If you do pay attention to these matters, you likely will be wrong.

But a skilled communicator might say something like, “I think it will go up another 15 percent. But what’s more important for us is….”

Over the last several months, I learned that doctors are also skilled at refocusing their message.

My wife is pregnant with twins due this coming Tuesday - at just 37 weeks which is typical for twins. But it’s rare that babies actually make it to that point.

Do you have multiples? Email your best tip.

So at our weekly appointment for the last two months, I kept asking the doctor to predict when we’d be having the babies. And why shouldn’t he know given the multiple medical diplomas hanging on his office wall.

I really wanted to know. I had several speaking opportunities and projects working with clients out-of-state. But I didn’t want to leave my wife alone during that time if it was likely she would give birth.

The doctor consistently found ways to tell me he couldn’t tell me. He would alternate between “It’s too soon to tell,” and “Data shows that most twins deliver before the 37 week goal.”

Even more impressive was how he pivoted the conversation to another topic so I wouldn’t ask a follow up question. “Will you have relatives staying with you?” or “Have we discussed umbilical cord blood banking?”

Needless to say, I didn’t travel very much and I thank my partners for covering for me.

I understand these techniques also work at home. When my wife asks me to change the babies’ diapers, I’ll bridge to…. Actually, I’ll probably just say, “Yes, dear.”

by Dan Sondhelm