What kills collaboration and creativity in all companies?
It was an excruciatingly hot summer afternoon. And two exhausted elephants can be seen scouring the jungle floor in search of coconuts. But during this time of the year, coconuts are few and far between. For most of these refreshing fruits hung high in the canopy and weren’t due to descend for another couple of months.
As these elephants groaned and moaned in utter frustration at their inability to find any liquid relief from the heat, one single coconut happened to fall from the sky. Immediately, these two elephants charged towards it. Each stampeding forward in hopes of snatching it away from the other. When they collided in the middle, the jungle shook from the impact of these two dueling giants.
A large cloud of dust sprayed into the air as tusks are furiously flourished about. Trunks are slammed violently against each other. Each giant fought relentlessly, because they assumed that only one of them will walk away with the prized coconut. The other will be left with nothing. As they tussled and tumbled about, both of their colossal bodies crashed into a nearby palm tree. And with a loud CRACK, the weight of their combined bodies caused the tree to snap at its base. The rest of the tree came crashing down onto ground. To their surprise, dozens of large juicy coconuts now lay scattered before them. And both of them were now able to quench their agonizing thirst.
A lot of us may act like these elephants, and mistakenly believe the lie that only one person always wins; while the other has to walk away empty-handed. This all-or-nothing type of mindset not only pits us against each other, but it also kills any possibility of collaboration in the future. But if empathy was infused into our negotiations, we would begin to care for others as well as ourselves. And when collaboration is prioritized over competition, new and exciting win-win opportunities will suddenly appear.
In the end, both parties won’t just walk away with arm-fulls of coconuts. Instead, empathy-infused negotiation leads us to find life-long friends and partnerships as well.
