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Quest Quote

“You must bake with the flour you have.”

- Danish folk saying

Quix Pix

Every month we will share some of our currently favorite books, music, movies and TV shows.

Movies

The Fire Next Time: A Town Divided by Conflict (2005) - This documentary from Docurama shows a town divided by fear and anger. We found it helpful to hear how hard it is to come to a mutually acceptable resolution, and how different parties see themselves and “the enemy”, how emotion rhetoric and untested beliefs divide, and the stress that happens from being involved in a long-standing, unresolved conflict.

Also, what do you think the effect of when opposite sides do come together, work very, very hard on a consensus-built agreement and then it doesn’t get put into play by the powers that be? If you guessed “very destructive”, you’re right!

Pocket Poem

Small enough to fit in your pocket, big enough to be of use.

Now Close the Windows
by Robert Frost

Now close the windows and hush all the fields:
If the trees must, let them silently toss;
No bird is singing now, and if there is,
Be it my loss.

It will be long ere the marshes resume,
I will be long ere the earliest bird:
So close the windows and not hear the wind,
But see all wind-stirred.

From the Founder

The leaves are still coming down here in western Massachusetts and, on sunny autumn days, it’s a pleasure to negotiate work breaks for myself to get outside and cut, split and stack wood for the coming winter. It’s these types of negotiations that I invite you to track in this month’s Negotiation Quix Tip.

Phil D the DJ and his radio station WIZZ are featured in this month’s quest story. WIZZ is our favorite station to listen to in the office and I even listen to it online when I’m on the road. There’s nothing quite like it and the breadth and range of the music he plays is both exciting and comforting, especially when I hear a song I haven’t heard since I was a kid.

Take a listen to WIZZ and if you like what you hear, bookmark it and let Phil D know. He’s a friendly guy and loves to chat with his listeners.

On with the quest,
Rob Fletcher

1. Ask questions – of yourself too. Asking questions (that you really want to know the answer to) engages the neo-cortex in the brain, which keeps unhelpful emotions out and the thinking brain engaged.
2. What’s the story behind the story?  Look for the underlying emotions – what is really being said. Or partner with someone who has this talent for empathy.
3. How close are you? How close are your common interests? Focus on the commonalities, not the differences.
4. Get creative with solutions (together) – If you brainstorm together, you not only build the capacity for some innovative ideas, but you build good will together.
5. Focus on underlying needs – yours and theirs. Let go of entrenched positions.
6. Clear out your unhelpful emotions – anger, worry, fear, etc. And name theirs (to yourself first, and if it’s helpful, address with them)
7. Walk a mile in their shoes – what are their joys, highs and lows, pain points?

Click here for the complete Topic of the Month.

We're constantly negotiating in our lives whether at work or at home. Explore this skill so crucial to success in an engaging, fun, and interactive workshop. We keep the material simple, memorable and immediately applicable to real-world situations. Discover how to get a mutual “yes” by sleuthing out both sides’ preferred approaches to negotiation. Explore universal needs that all negotiators have in common and find out how to address them. By finding ways to leverage your preferred style, you will learn how to effortlessly negotiate.

Our negotiation training is a mix of engaging exercises, discussion, and useful information, tools and techniques. You’ll practice negotiation in real time and learn methods to identify other party’s negotiation style. Learn techniques to identify which underlying need is being expressed by the other party and focus on their interest and need instead of their position. Clearly identifying the common ground, you find the material you both agree on. We help you focus on what you really need and set clear goals for your negotiations. And we’ll look at how to determine best alternatives to a settlement if the negotiation does not reach your expectations.

For a complete program description, please click here.

Click here for resources to further integrate this month’s topic into your quest.

In an era of radio stations owned and tightly controlled by a few large corporations, Phil D and his WIZZ radio station provide something rare and wonderful. This independently owned radio station decides what to play by listener request and Phil’s unerring feel for what his listeners love.  It’s radio the way you remember it was. And if you wish it were still happening, there’s good news – it is!

WIZZ radio is a dynamic AM radio station that features "The Greatest Music Memories" of all time with music from the 40's, 50's, 60's through today. WIZZ serves four states and also reaches avid listeners worldwide online from Greenfield, Massachusetts at 1520 on the AM dial.

Every weekday at sunrise, Phil D is at the controls of WIZZ, waking the towns and telling the people what they want to hear...News, Weather, Sports, Lottery Results, Phil D has it all...even his own special humor and a touch of "friendly sarcasm". His daily all-request show plays the great songs and artists of the past seven decades.

Phil has been involved with radio all his life, starting in high school and continuing on up to today. He’s had lots of adventures...

Click here for the complete Quest Story.

Take a quick break from your work and try these yoga poses right at your desk. Click here for Seven Helpful Yoga Hints.

Stand tall and face a chair with either no wheels or with wheels locked so it doesn’t move. Raise right leg and place foot on chair at a 90 degree angle. Try placing your hands in different locations for different benefits:

• Lengthen your arms at side and lower shoulder blades.
• Rest hands on thigh (not knee).
• Rest hands on back of chair.

Quix Tip

What Flour Did You Bake With While Negotiating Today?

We negotiate all the time, all day long, (even with ourselves), often without realizing it. Think about the different small negotiations you had with your spouse, kids, co-worker or self today and yesterday.

What was your style in these negotiations? There is a Danish folk saying that asserts, “You must bake with the flour you have.” In fact, you probably can’t bake at all with flour you don’t have.

How effective were you with your “flour”? What parts of your style would you like to use more? What would you like to use less? How would you like to refine your...

Click here for the complete Quix Tip.

Statisticity

Q. What percentage of employees work beyond scheduled time and on weekends?*

1. 40%
2. 50%
3. 60%
4. 70%

Panza's Proverb

"Many people go looking for wool and come back shorn."

Sancho Panza, Don Quixote’s squire, was famous for his proverbs.

Spread the Word

This is your monthly word challenge. Identify the correct definition for the following word. Once you know the definition, spread the word!

Ranine

1. Complex, particularly when referring to a written document
   
2. A shallow crevasse
   
3. Impish
   
4. Pertaining to or like frogs

Good News

Take a break from bad news headlines and read this article about a study that shows how optimistic women live longer.

Have you read some good news lately? Send us a link and spread the good news!