Helen jumped, again.
“That’s it folks!” announced the boss. “Frank well done. You have earned yourself 50 dollars.” Andrew slumped into his chair, a face of frustration as he tapped aggressively at an invisible button in the direction of Brett. “That money was mine, ours, Brett!” he mouthed across the boardroom table. “We lost!”
Carla and Darren were only slightly more gracious in their defeat. “Almost!” said Darren. “You were too slow.” “I was too slow?” retorted Carla, “You were, sloth!”
Helen and Gerry were just quiet.
The boss clapped again. “OK!” he announced. “Congratulations to Frank, who got his partner to stand behind his chair. Here’s your 50 dollars, Frank.” The boss leaned forward and handed Frank the note.
“I think you mean twenty-five,” said Eddie. “Half’s mine!”
“That depends on Frank,” added the boss. “You don’t get anything. Only Frank does. He got you to stand behind his chair. If Frank wants to share it, then that’s up to Frank.”
Frank looked pleased. Holding the edges of the note, he waved it around like a flag.
“You did get an agreement, right?” continued the boss, as he looked at Eddie. “Did you agree to share the winnings?”
Frank interjected. “I said we’d share the money. And we will. Here’s twenty. I don’t have any other change.” Frank opened his wallet wide in emphasis.
“But that’s not fifty-fifty!” blurted Eddie. “You ripped me off!”
“Who said anything about fifty-fifty?!” replied Frank. “I said ‘share’!”
“I did!” shouted Carla. “I promised Darren half of the money. We would have won Darren! You big oaf! You’re too slow!”
The boss interjected. “No you wouldn’t have. None of you have actually won.”
“I have!” announced Frank, as he leaned back in his chair, while gently sniffing the 50 dollar note.
“No, not even you, Frank. None of you truly reached win-win. Frank, you didn’t get 50 bucks. You got 30. Carla and Darren would have only got 25 each. Listen again to the rules. ‘If you can get your partner to stand behind your chair, then I will give you fifty dollars’.” Once again, the boss exaggerated the words ‘chair’ and ‘you’. He waited for the metaphorical penny to drop.
It didn’t.
The boss tried again. “What does win-win mean? Darren?”
“Um,” said Darren nervously, “fifty-fifty?”
“NO!” shouted the boss. “Carla?”
“I was going to say the same as Darren.”
Frank laughed, “It’s thirty-twenty, baby! Thirty for me, and twenty for Eric!”
“Wrong Frank,” countered the boss. “Win-win is keeping both of you happy. Neither of you should feel like you ‘lost’ something. You should both be satisfied with the outcome. Now this is money, but imagine if we had to negotiate over, say, children as in a divorce? Would you be as happy seeing your kids for two-thirds or half of the time?”
The group of key account managers looked down at the table. Everyone had kids. Brett tried to lift the tone. “I bet Andrew’s parents would have liked to have seen him half the time. He must have been a real terror!”
There was a slight chuckle.
The boss continued. “So nobody can see the solution here? Do I have to repeat the…”
But then the boss paused. Helen was motioning to Gerry to rise.
“Come here. Come here,” whispered Helen. She gestured to Gerry to first stand, and then come over. As Gerry made a move, Helen also stood. They both walked towards one another, and then paused in front of the boss. The boss’s eyebrows were raised, but he didn’t say a word.
“Keep going,” urged Helen. Gerry did as she was told; clearly not understanding exactly what was happening, but not wanting to cause a scene. “Stand behind my chair.” And then Gerry’s metaphorical penny dropped.
Smart Company is the leading online publication in Australia for free news, information and resources catering to Australia’s entrepreneurs, small and medium business owners and business managers.
