Thanksgiving, InstantBuzz and the library

After a couple thousand words at InstantBuzz and a couple pounds of food at the in-laws, it seems like I must have something to say at my own blog...So here I am. Stuffed, with the new nephew done screaming [, poor baby,] and the other males huddled in front of the TV playing Gauntlet, I am staring at this Dell screen wondering what it was that I had to say.

Well, one place that a lot of people overlook is the library. Whenever I'm having internet challenges, there are plenty of net connections at the library. I enjoy reading stuff like Harvard Business Review which saves you in the neighborhood of $100 a year versus a subscription. Some truly great articles with some imaginative, yet academically sound ideas. If someone says, "Where'd you hear that?", Harvard Business Review is a pretty impressive source.

The most recent article that caught my eye was about negotiation. There have been lots of books written on negotiation with titles along the lines of Negotiate Anything. What this article mentioned was most people aren't thinking about the relationship of the parties after the negotiations. You don't want to kill the relationship, which some companies do by extracting the most favorable terms for themselves but leaving the other party in a bad way. Some companies hire people especially for the negotiations that have no financial stake in how things turn out later. The hired gun negotiates and is gone. Is it possible that some of us negotiate this way, too? It's only human nature that there would be some seriously ruffled feathers for the side that got the short end of the stick. We need to pay attention to how both sides feel about what they're getting or the partnership could be short-lived. It's also a good way to kill repeat business.

They're calling me to the traditional penny ante poker game. See you tomorrow.


"If women ran the world we wouldn't have wars, just intense negotiations every 28 days."

Robin Williams - ThinkExist.com