Page 82 - my SUCCESS! my CHOICE

Deepak Gupta my SUCCESS! my CHOICE
- 81 -

“In Compassion Ron. Even if we move to Control, it is out of concern for them not for an

ego trip.” Replied Dan. “But it is also true that I happily compromise my wants to meet

Jonathan’s; I would not know if our needs were different as I was not aware of this concept

then. I can say this for Betsy too – compromising our wants for meeting Jonathan’s has given

us great pleasure. So far, we have always thought it to be a win-win.”

Ron’s voice got softer, “Parent-child is a unique relationship without a parallel in our work

lives. Why shouldn’t our work lives also be this way is a question for another day. Today we

must address an unplanned, but extremely interesting question.”

“What are we doing by compromising and allowing our children to win? Are we training

and preparing them for the tough world outside or are we getting them ready to be hugely

disappointed when people in the real-world refuse to compromise and not allow them to win

easily? Is it truly win-win?” Ron looked at Dan quizzingly with a gentle smile.

Dan had turned white as if he just saw a ghost. He had always wondered why Jonathan had

such a hard time in the first semester of his freshman year at the college. The ugly truth was

staring at him now. He slowly gathered himself and spoke in a feeble voice, “Thanks Ron.

Some important things are clearer now.”

Ron realized that an internal conflict was brewing in Dan’s head as his tone got even softer,

“This lose-win conflict resolution is called Flight. As the word suggests, we flee from the

situation to prevent confrontation. Does that resolve the conflict though? No. it just

postpones it for another day. Retreat may be the right short-term tactic in certain situations,