Tip of the Day: Damage Control

Everybody loves a good win-win situation, but chances are, more often than not, you’re gonna get stuck in a no-win situation.

For example, a win-win scenario would be me sharing a detailed list of parameters you need to update to finish the project by Friday if you want a bonus. You get the bonus; I get a finished project.

A no-win situation would be me giving you vague inputs and then vanishing into thin air. If you make decisions on your own, I’m on your ahh for overstepping your authority and not following rules you were never given. But if I don’t step in, the project fails, and we all suffer. I create the mess; you become responsible for cleaning it up.

Or, if we’re in a relationship, and I behave erratically. If you state your opinion, I start a fight. But if I don’t regulate myself, the relationship spirals into conflict anyway. Whether you’re honest or I fail to keep my emotions in check, you’re screwed either way.

It’s quite simple, actually. You act, and I make you regret it. I fail to act, and somehow, you’re still responsible. We’re both involved, but we’re certainly not playing by the same rules.

I’m the problem, but you’re the one without a solution.

Kinda like that old idiom: damned if you do, damned if you don’t – just worse.