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Don't ask why. Don't ask the reasoning behind. Don't ask to justify. You won't get a real answer. All you'll get is a personal defense of a position, with a heavy load of feelings. It'll feel like an attack to the other one. Even when you have the best intentions. Start with "What" or "How" "What made you get to this decision / process / move..." "How did you come up to..." These 2 words take off the load of judgement over the question, and detach the person from the behavior. And with that, you'll be one step closer to better understanding Why. |
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"From a cost center to a profit center" What a nonsense. That implies that your profit is based on your costs control. That, magically, when you know your costs (or audit or improve them or whatever), you'll turn into profit. It implies that costs is the basis for profit per default. It also implies that to get to that profit, you need to be the most cost efficient and cost effective. That you rip off anything that is a cost. It implies that you follow best-practices. Bull.Shit. That also...
Getting too close to what the rules/views/templates/best-practices are can make you miss important details. Paper can hold anything. Reality doesn’t.
In a negotiation, the first thing you need to be comfortable with is zero. As in No Money, can't pay, won't pay, don't see the point on it. Having that figure clear in your head is the thing that will let you move forward. Right now, you have zero. If the deal doesn't happen, you'll still have zero. You didn't lose something that you didn't have in the first place. Zero means you're also free. You can say no when it's not a fit, when it doesn't make sense to you, or when you feel like it....