“Sunday Negotiation Insight”
“Heighten Awareness in Life and Negotiations”
But you don’t know the whole story
A little boy on an outing at the zoo with his mother fell into the gorilla moat. To save the little boy’s life, zoo officials shot the gorilla. They were bedazzled by indignant outrage from animal rights groups stating that the gorilla should not have been shot. Some of that scorn was later turned on the mother for not observing her kid’s actions more vigilantly. Upon further gathering of insight from gorilla experts, it was determined that a tranquilizer may not have worked in time if the gorilla engaged in actions that might have endangered the child’s life. Which action do you think was right? It depends on your perspective and your point of view. The one thing I think is safe to say, if your child had fallen in that moat, you’d want everything done quickly to ensure his/her safety.
How many times has someone given you an opinion about adopting a particular course of action that differed from what you engaged in? Did you think, “but you don’t know the whole story”? Even more so, how many times have you expressed your opinion and didn’t consider how much you were unaware of?
When people extend their opinions, they don’t consider what insight they lack about that situation. Their psychological awareness is not at that level. Most of the time, they just ‘speak from the hip’. That comes about because everyone has their perspective per what’s right, wrong, and/or indifferent. As such, they speak about a situation based on what they consider ‘the right thing to do’, which stems from their perspective of life.
When you find you’re on the receiving end in such situations and you believe you’re being unjustly assessed, ask the purveyor of such opinion what their perspective of the situation is. Seek to understand why and how they came to possess such opinions and ask what they think they might be missing per the insight needed to alter their perspective.
Everyone has opinions. The more insight we have about a situation, the greater the chance to reshape our opinions. To the degree that occurs, you and they will come away with a higher level of insight, about each other and your thought process. As the result, both of you will have enhanced your perspective and degree of insight related to your communications … and everything will be right with the world.
What does this have to do with negotiations!
Every negotiation is colored by the negotiators’ perspectives and beliefs. If you want more positive outcomes in your negotiations (you’re always negotiating), consider how you can infuse your negotiations with more insight. If you convey insight convincingly and you’re perceived as genuinely attempting to add value to the opposing negotiator’s perspective, more successful negotiation outcomes will be your reward … and everything will be right with the world.
Remember, you’re always negotiating!