Habit 4: Think Win-Win

Pride gets no pleasure out of having something, only out of having more of it than the next man.

-         C.S. Lewis, Author    

Thinking win-win is the foundation for getting along well with other people. It begins with the belief that we are all equal, that no one is better than anyone else. 

There are different attitudes that people have towards other people. For example win-lose, lose-win, lose-lose, and win-win. 

Win-lose are full of pride. It is an attitude toward life that says the pie of success is only so big, and if you get a bigger piece of it, there is less left for me. Win-lose is competitive, the totem pole of success is where you have to sit and step on other people to get higher up. 

Lose-win people are otherwise known as the door mat. They are weak, and get stepped on easily. You find your-self setting low expectations for yourself and compromising your standards again and again.   

The lose-lose is the worst of all! It says “If I’m going down, then you’d going down with me.” War is a great example of lose-lose. Whoever kills the most people wins the war… is anyone really winning? Lose-lose can also happen when someone when someone becomes obsessed with another person in a negative way. Like sibling rivalry to a whole another level. 

in-win is a belief that everyone can win. It’s the hardest to keep, but also the best. It is saying I won’t step on you, but you can’t step on me either. You care about other people and want them to succeed but you won’t let them step on you to do that.