At football today, I learnt a valuable lesson. There is a very easy way to bring about a ‘lose-lose’ situation – by exercising an attitude of ‘just because I can’.
We were two groups of people – 1 group of 14 (us) and another group of 6. As there was only 1 court to play, we decided we would rotate. I took the initiative for this one as I was in no mood for any quarelling. The other smaller group were there a minute or two before us so they technically ‘had the court’.Just as we started, a smaller court opened up – so I immediately suggested they move across since they had a much smaller group.
But no, they refused. Why did they refuse? Just because they could.
So, we moved.
The end result – A group of 14 playing in a court meant for 10 and a group of 6-8 playing in a court meant for 14.
A perfect ‘lose-lose’. It was a perfect example of how negotiations go wrong..
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And I’m trying to think what I/we could have done better here? Suggestions are welcome..
The big takeaway was to catch myself when I find myself doing something ‘just because I can’ because we tend to lose all sense of balance when we do things that way.
A Learning a Day 