The sun sets on another day…
Stunning skies and kaleidoscope colors made the twilight and fantastic series of seconds.
A long time ago I was in a negotiation class for a company I worked for. In the class two groups were given envelopes that contained very different instructions. One group had to negotiate from a certain point of view while another group had an equally challenging point of view but both were tasked to come up with the best agreement possible.
The results were quite funny. Some of the groups had very simplistic answers as they just wanted to make money and didn’t go for the best price possible. Some of the groups had companies that would have gone bankrupt because of the deals they made in order to try to sell. In the end the entire exercise was meant to get people used to working from a point that they had no reference to refer to.
There was another gentleman that was as aggressive as I was and pushed to win constantly. We were both at the top of what we did and we both wanted to win. We were put in a situation where we were headed to head. Before it was done our solution was so convoluted that you had to have a key to understand who was going to make money and who was going to lose money. We were both awarded for coming up with the most complicated solution that the leadership had ever seen.
There was no really good answer and our solution, though elegant, was less than optimal because of its complexity, or so we were told. Mark and I sat down and worked through our solution and how things would work if sales were good and our profits came out very similar. Not necessarily a loss but it was definitely a complex situation.
I look back at that occasionally and think about the tenacity I fought with. As I consider the fury that both of us displayed I also think about how much effort we put in to the situation. Although we never became friends because of the distance between us we both determined that we were like-minded and kept in touch over time for no other reason than to have said that we had worthy adversaries.
I think that’s my point for the night. If you can always go for a simplistic solution. Simple wins usually and there are numerous places that this is stated very directly.
If it can’t be simple hope that your adversary is Worthy. Mine was very Worthy but it was more so because we were both also honest and did not deceive each other beyond the rules of the exercise that was given to us. In the end we discussed and both agreed did the tenacity that each of us fought with bore the complexities of our final agreement because we both sensed that the other was working from a perspective that was potentially to our detriment. A worthy adversary is one that is powerful but also is honest and straightforward. At least that’s my opinion. For my last suggestion be true to yourself. The other thing that we discussed later is that we weren’t going to give up. Some people on our teams just wanted to settle and be done but we became tenacious and eventually the rest of the team giggled and laughed at the process.
The point of all this? That’s a good question. I started in one place and went another as usual. In this particular case I wanted to make certain to say that giving up is not an option. I know, I know, we hear that all the time, but sometimes we just need to hear it again.
So as the sun sets on another day, don’t give up. When faced with an obstacle work towards your best and when working with others understand that their goals may not align with yours. Find a way to make it work, no matter how complicated, no matter.
Sleep sweet, love life, and keep fighting…