Compromise requires negotiating a midpoint between two positions or solutions. This midpoint is not where sustainable solutions are found. Our society seems to be beginning to wake up to this fact, which is why compromise is on its way out as our first-choice problem-solving strategy.
What makes compromise a poor twenty-first century problem-solving strategy? Today's challenges are far more complex than they have ever been because today's world is far more interconnected than it has ever been. The best obtainable outcome using compromise is that all parties walk away from the negotiating table feeling equally ripped off. This makes compromise a poor strategy for creating sustainable solutions.
Most people know only one other problem-solving strategy than compromise: coercion. If there is a method of solving problems that is even worse than compromise, it's coercion.
If neither compromise nor coercion can create the solutions we need then what can? is not the remedy for misusing compromise, then what is? The third form of problem-solving in addition to coercion and compromise is synergy. Synergy means combining the wisdom of multiple perspectives to discover solutions that are better than any single perspective can create by itself. For this reason, synergy goes far beyond the unsatisfying ritual of meeting in the middle that compromise creates.
Humility is the gateway into synergy. Recognizing that no single party can accurately grasp the big picture is the kind of humility that synergy requires. There are two ingredients beyond humility that synergy requires:
1. Core Intention Discovery: Looking behind the positions people have taken and the solutions they have proposed to identify the fundamental values and purposes beneath them. This means becoming understanding the outcome people are seeking from the solutions they are suggesting.
2. Integrating Core Intentions: Combining everyone's core intentions reveals a more picture than any one group can see by themselves. This is the only picture from which sustainable solutions can grow. This is how synergy serves the common good far better than coercion or compromise.
Society is at a tipping point when it comes to our chosen negotiation strategies. Will we continue to rely on coercion and compromise because they are familiar to us, no matter how inadequate they are as 21st century problem-solving strategies? Or will be start using a less familiar but far more effective negotiation strategy? It is time we started depending on synergy as our first-choice problem-solving strategy.
Even though most of us are more familiar with coercion and compromise, synergy is a very learnable negotiation and solution-creation skill. Start mastering the art of synergy today.
What makes compromise a poor twenty-first century problem-solving strategy? Today's challenges are far more complex than they have ever been because today's world is far more interconnected than it has ever been. The best obtainable outcome using compromise is that all parties walk away from the negotiating table feeling equally ripped off. This makes compromise a poor strategy for creating sustainable solutions.
Most people know only one other problem-solving strategy than compromise: coercion. If there is a method of solving problems that is even worse than compromise, it's coercion.
If neither compromise nor coercion can create the solutions we need then what can? is not the remedy for misusing compromise, then what is? The third form of problem-solving in addition to coercion and compromise is synergy. Synergy means combining the wisdom of multiple perspectives to discover solutions that are better than any single perspective can create by itself. For this reason, synergy goes far beyond the unsatisfying ritual of meeting in the middle that compromise creates.
Humility is the gateway into synergy. Recognizing that no single party can accurately grasp the big picture is the kind of humility that synergy requires. There are two ingredients beyond humility that synergy requires:
1. Core Intention Discovery: Looking behind the positions people have taken and the solutions they have proposed to identify the fundamental values and purposes beneath them. This means becoming understanding the outcome people are seeking from the solutions they are suggesting.
2. Integrating Core Intentions: Combining everyone's core intentions reveals a more picture than any one group can see by themselves. This is the only picture from which sustainable solutions can grow. This is how synergy serves the common good far better than coercion or compromise.
Society is at a tipping point when it comes to our chosen negotiation strategies. Will we continue to rely on coercion and compromise because they are familiar to us, no matter how inadequate they are as 21st century problem-solving strategies? Or will be start using a less familiar but far more effective negotiation strategy? It is time we started depending on synergy as our first-choice problem-solving strategy.
Even though most of us are more familiar with coercion and compromise, synergy is a very learnable negotiation and solution-creation skill. Start mastering the art of synergy today.
About the Author:
Looking for the best resources for moving beyond compromise? Then visit www.TheNewIQ.com for Dr. Gruder's free introduction to the master skill for becoming a synergy master in your negotiations and problem-solving.
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