Think Win-Win

The Fourth habit is to think win – win. Years ago I use to watch Sesame Street. Being that it was a public television show it had no commercial ads, because it had no sponsors. So, in a joking manner, at the end of the show the announcer would say that the show was brought by the number, letter, and word of the day. Many times the word was cooperation. To demonstrate the word, after defining it, they had skits in which the Muppets would do things together. At the end of the skit they showed the rewards of cooperation: they finished faster, they exerted less effort, and everyone was satisfied. This is the nature of win-win.

Let’s face it, we all live in interdependent realities. Everywhere we go, we are affected by others and others are affected by us. However, we are taught to be independent, and win at all costs. This may good for certain sports, but for real life it does not work. You need the right tools for the job. You do not use a jackknife to cut the grass. It is a lot easier with a grass-mower. All of our relationships in life are interdependent, so you need interdependent tools to be effective. Cooperation and thinking win-win are tools for the job. Things go a lot easier when we cooperate and think win-win. More on this subject next time.