Schlagwort-Archive: end

The views at the state of affairs

Fruitful negotiations need an approach that is focused on the issue rather than on the relationships and the personalities involved. Dealing with expectations and the search for common ground are more than the superficial wrangling for individual advantages. It is easier to agree, if there is a Win-Win situation for everyone. In order to make a result possible, objective, jointly determined reference points are needed. The state of affairs derived from the existing standpoints is crucial. If you find a common view of the initial situation and the conditions associated, some contradictions do not arise. The dominoes allow to experience this. Look at the following image! What is it all about? What do you notice? Which thoughts jump to your mind?

When looking at one situation, all participants have their own ideas, as they approach the situation from different viewpoints, focuses and subtleties. For this reason, all should start by describing the situation that is the basis for the negotiations – the issues, relationships, sequences, dependencies, and preconditions. The following perspectives help additionally.

  • The look at the beginning
    Especially when a snapshot of the situation is taken, nothing moves, which makes it necessary to find the entry point that obviously triggers the situation. Depending on this, the explanations, justifications, and negotiation points differ. That is why we ask ourselves: where does it start?
  • The look to the end
    On the downside, the situation is determined by its end point. The last stone completes the process. Some imagine that it tips over – or maybe not. The boundaries of a negotiation determine where the need is for discussion and where not. You agree upon the following questions: Is this the end? And what happens then? To what point does a negotiation make sense?
  • The look for saliences
    Our attention is particularly attracted to individual stones because something is different – the toppling stones, the two T-forming ones, or the stone close to the edge. However, these peculiarities do not mean that they are important for the negotiation. Therefore, the saliences should be jointly questioned: What do they mean for the reconciliation?
  • The look beyond
    So far, we have been looking at the obvious – the stones and the abyss. The abyss is only implied. We do not know how deep it is or what can be found below. The meaning of the scenery is also left to the imagination of the viewer. The mental cinema that begins should be articulated so that the participants can understand what the thoughts of the others are. The following questions bring these hidden agendas to light: What happens in the end? What is the point behind it? Why does this situation exist? Like this?
  • The holistic look
    As soon as we have a clear view beyond that, we can combine all the previous findings into one explanation. This provides extended perspective – the holistic view. Only the connections between the views lead to a conclusive starting point. Now we get a common answer to the question: What is happening here?

These are by far not all perspectives, but essential ones. There are infinitely many more. In serious negotiations at eye level, the parties involved should share their point of view. This will result in an appropriate interpretation of what is happening, leading to a mutually satisfactory outcome.

Bottom line: In most cases, the participants discuss the “wrong” issues – personal attitudes of the counterparts, the various negotiation positions and the arguments that allow the winner to take all. It is more effective to jointly describe the starting point so that everyone talks about the same thing. That way many misunderstandings are avoided from the outset. These include: where it all starts and ends, what you notice about the matter, what is the point behind everything and how everything is related. By jointly developing the state of affairs, unproductive negotiations are avoided at an early stage. On this basis fruitful negotiations can start.

The River – the ideal metaphor for the business process

A water flow that evolves from the well to a creek, to a powerful stream has characteristics, which also constitute a business procedure. In its bed the water always flows from the mountain to the sea, where it evaporates to clouds and returns to the mountains, where the whole cycle begins again. At the same time, the river carries with its mass of water rocks and other sediments, supplies the surrounding cropland with water and nutrients and allows with a certain size the transportation of people and goods. Business processes also have certain characteristics of the river. This makes the river an ideal metaphor for the business process.

The following aspects illustrate some of these properties.

  • There is always a start and end point
    The sum of the wells defines the starting point of a river. The discovery of the sources of the Nile shows that it may take some time for finding the real origin. On the other hand, the wells are determined by agreeing on official starting points. Something similar happens at the estuary, when the river widely spreads out and pours into the sea with various large streams. Business processes also often have several start and end points, which must be agreed upon. It is crucial that nothing happens before the start and after the end. Otherwise, the scope of the process is wrong.
  • The natural flow finds its way
    In former times rivers meandered through the landscape. That way the courses of the river have always shifted and thus modeled large valleys. Nowadays they try to curb the river with dams in order to prevent flooding and changing river flows. Basically, all rivers flow from the mountains to the sea. This results in a natural route, which still constitutes the river. Business processes also follow the common sense of the people. For this reason, processes already exist, before they are designed and described. The decisive factor is that these natural conditions are considered in order to avoid unnecessary friction losses.
  • The descent maintains the flow
    Some rivers seem not to be moving. Others overcome great heights and develop a tremendous energy that carries everything away. The descent determines the speed of the flow and the forces that evolve. Nature formed waterfalls, which expose everything that is transported in the river to severe stress. Without a slope, the streams spread to vast water surfaces, where a completely different flora and fauna lives. Business processes also differ in their speed. The slope is determined by the degree of automation. As soon as a procedure is processed by a computer, speeds are reached which we can no longer track, e.g. when virtual stock exchanges buy and sell in milliseconds. The requirements for the process are crucial. Correspondingly, the processes are accelerated by computers or slowed down by human participation.
  • Against the current costs more than with the current
    All things flow in a stream without the need of additional energy in the direction of the sea – except perhaps for control. As a result, rivers became early on transportation routes. The incurring effort is then the average of the expenses required for getting downstream and back upstream. Sometimes swirls appear which must be overcome. Business processes also have a tendency to flow quickly from the start to the end. As soon as the affected people resist and move outside of the official procedures, they need considerably more effort. It is crucial to take care of the natural flow and to get from the start to the end with as little energy as possible.
  • The river transports something
    A natural river carries rocks, earth, trees, and dead bodies, just everything that is in it. Sometimes this result in the formation of barriers at certain places, which then forces the river to leave its existing bed and find a new path. People have learned to use the river and to transport a wide variety of goods. In order to make the most of this possibility and to ensure the six inches water under the keel, the rivers were straightened out and regularly dredged. The business process also transports something – mainly information. But also materials follow the flow. Designing processes corresponds to straightening waterways. IT programs and defined task sequences determine the process. It is crucial that at the right time, the right information and materials are there, where they are needed.

Bottom line: The intuitive understanding of a river can be well transferred to business processes. The well and the estuary determine the range of the river. The best way can be found through the force of the water, which is a result of the descend. Driving against the current requires a lot of energy, while floating with the current takes little effort. The immense amount of water that is flowing towards the sea without interruption, define the river productivity. Due to these characteristics, the river is the ideal metaphor for the business process.