Synergy<\/p>\n
People often don\u2019t understand what I do. That\u2019s fairly understandable, as I myself often redefine what it is that I do as I learn more about, well\u2026 how I do what I do.<\/p>\n
Talk about mediation with someone, they generally think about finding the common ground.<\/p>\n
Talk about negotiation theory and strategy, they generally think about obtaining the most value.<\/p>\n
If you ask me, they\u2019re both right, and they\u2019re both wrong.<\/p>\n
Much of what I do involves identifying and building on synergies. See, people are different. As much as we like to think that deep down we\u2019re all the same, we\u2019re not. We come from different cultures, different backgrounds, we have different skills, we value things differently. In short, we see the world differently. Add to this mix the fact that the world is changing exponentially, and it\u2019s a wonder to me that anyone can get together on anything at all!<\/p>\n
But, if you\u2019re careful\u2026 if you\u2019re patient\u2026 above all if you\u2019re willing to look past the conflict and let go your own preconceptions, there\u2019s opportunity to be found in these differences. I was reminded of this the other day.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m somewhat of a pragmatist. While I love creating and am fascinated with underlying theory my focus has always been in the application \u2013 I want to play with my new toy.<\/p>\n
A good friend of mine is a purist. He loves the theoretical side as well, but he\u2019s an artist \u2013 he loves it for itself.<\/p>\n
We\u2019d had a series of talks about how to convey to laymen exactly what he does \u2013 how to make his world accessible to people (read: clients) who aren\u2019t\u2026 well\u2026 him. I asked a few leading questions, planted a few seeds if you will, and a couple of weeks later came back to see what had grown. Nothing. Undeterred, I gave him my own answer to see how it would resonate. It was, I humbly submit, brilliant. It was succinct, well crafted and to the point. It was marketable. It was, I thought, exactly what he needed all wrapped up in a shiny ribbon. His response when gifted with the fruit of my genius? \u201cMeh\u201d.<\/p>\n
I was dumbfounded. I couldn\u2019t understand how he wasn\u2019t excited. \u201cFair enough, he\u2019ll come around\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
Two days ago we returned to the theme. He\u2019d been thinking about what I said. \u201cHere it comes\u201d, I thought, \u201csweet, sweet validation!\u201d. Instead, his answer stunned me. He had taken my answer, my pragmatic framework, and with the addition of a simple concept, two or three simple words, made it art. I was literally speechless. See, I was looking at the metaphorical piano as an architectural masterpiece \u2013 he saw music.<\/p>\n
We didn\u2019t look for a middle ground. We didn\u2019t compromise. We didn\u2019t debate the concept to see who\u2019s point of view would win out. My friend didn\u2019t come around to my way of thinking nor I to his. Instead, we both brought something to the equation the other was lacking and, in collaboration, came up with something together neither of would have been able to create alone. He was having trouble building the piano; me, I couldn\u2019t play.<\/p>\n
Synergy. More than common ground, it\u2019s about new frontiers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Synergy People often don\u2019t understand what I do. That\u2019s fairly understandable, as I myself often redefine what it is that I do as I learn more about, well\u2026 how I do what I do. Talk about mediation with someone, they generally think about finding the common ground. Talk about negotiation theory and strategy, they generally […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[7],"class_list":{"0":"post-6","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-negotiation-theory","7":"tag-negotiation","8":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/josephneurauter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/josephneurauter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/josephneurauter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/josephneurauter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/josephneurauter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"http:\/\/josephneurauter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":153,"href":"http:\/\/josephneurauter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6\/revisions\/153"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/josephneurauter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/josephneurauter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/josephneurauter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}