The Art of the Win-Win

07.09.10

These days it is a daunting task for a business to succeed. The economy aside, it seems that almost every business I speak with or get approached by exists in a space with a multitude of different competitors. A simple Google search rings up a plethora of identical hungry suitors vying for the sale.

But what does it take to close the deal now? It takes a Win-Win mentality. I am not going to dwell too much on this because, like too many business books, you can boil the concept down to a principle: be scrappy. What can you do that differentiates yourself from your competitor, is a benefit to the customer, but may not cost you much time or resources to execute? How can you inspire someone to care about what you do? Chances are, the answer may be right in front of your face. Maybe it isn’t more—it could be less—for example less waste or less packaging.

I feel like we see opportunities for win-wins everyday. Yet everyone is surprised when they actually get executed. Recently we held the first annual Substance Summit in San Sebastian, Spain (Justin & I took a vacation for a friend’s wedding). While there we took a bike ride through the world’s longest bicycle commuter tunnel.

According to the pro bike blog Copehagenize the San Sebastian Mayor, Odon Elorza, called the tunnel “a symbol of progress, sustainability and personal health.”

While this win-win was an obvious large investment – not all need to be. Sometimes I wonder what holds organizations back from executing on ideas that seem to reap enormous benefits on multiple fronts….