Art of Compromise North Carolina

The secret to business success.

Local Companies

Multiple Choice, Inc.
(704) 865-7463
PO Box 837
Gastonia, NC
ActionCOACH
336.510.7262
1050 Revolution Mill
Greensboro, NC
Bristlecone Learning, LLC
(9190 788-7495
8008 Kingsland Drive
Raleigh, NC
Ruberto Management Resources, Ltd
919-620-8411
6904 St Marys Rd
Hillsborough, NC
smallChange Consultants LLC
704-708-5383
5141 Belicourt Drive
Charlotte, NC
Altman Initiative Group, Inc.
704-708-6700
1416 Sweetgum Lane
Matthews, NC
df|Media Group
910 297 2593
6314 Standsberry Lane
Wilmington, NC
Business Process Analytics
(704) 678-1660
1437 E. Franklin Blvd., PMB #112
Gastonia, NC
Peridot Performance LLC
704-649-7889
13415 Windward Cove
Charlotte, NC
Learning Technologies, Inc.
919-749-5285
5206 Duraleigh Rd.
Raleigh, NC


Art of Compromise

News coming from Washington these days reflects the discord of politicians arguing over issues from judicial nominations to Social Security. Civility and collaboration among political adversaries greased the wheels of the American political process for much of the 20th century. No longer! Given the polarity of the American electorate, compromise has come to be equated with selling out. Comity between adversaries has gone by the wayside.

By contrast, business demonstrates in many ways how to prosper through compromise. In a free market society, conceiving, developing and delivering a product or service is filled with hundreds of compromises that balance the needs of the consumer to obtain value with the needs of the producer to make a profit.

Creating Unity
Compromise is not a betrayal of values. It is an agreement over a position where both sides come away with something to their liking. Not every compromise is a good one. General Motors' compromise with its unions over health and pensions in the late 1990s has resulted in legacy costs today approaching $2,500 per vehicle, which the company can ill afford to absorb. On the other hand, compromise between oil producers and the environmentalists has resulted in the implementation of drilling methods that are more ecologically compatible, in addition to the creation and preservation of natural habitats.
Compromise ensures the common interest, and so is a valuable practice for managers to learn and implement. Why? Because compromise is a means by which the talent and skills of a diverse team can be harnessed for the completion of a project. Compromise ensures that people participate and their collaboration overcomes not only inertia but also resistance. Here are some ways to encourage compromise.

  • Insist on collaboration. Reflect for a moment on your most positive team experience. It may be something that occurred in high school athletics or you may be experiencing it right now in your workplace. If you consider why the team succeeded, it is due not simply to the individual proficiencies of teammates, but it was everyone’s ability to meld together, not always as friends, but as collaborators who respect one another’s talents and abilities. That’s teamwork. In a larger picture, it is the collaboration of individuals for the greater good, e.g., producing intended results in the form of winning games or winning in the marketplace. How can managers insist on collaboration? The first way is through example. Make it known that you are willing to share the hardships, be it longer hours or more difficult assignments. A second way is through open and honest communications. Set clear expectations and be available to listen and learn from others on the team.


  • Leverage dissent. The job of employees is not to agree with the boss 100 percent of the time. Employees should feel free to offer alternate points of view about how the work is done, or about the intended results. At the same time, the managers have a right to expect that the work will be done on time and on budget. Managers may also insist on adherence to standards of quality and practice and exact discipline when those metrics are not met. But within that framework there is room for dissent. Creative tension over ideas provokes good thinking and rigorous analysis. The development of marketing campaigns resembles a laboratory for collaborative thinking. Product offering and research are combined with lots of clever minds to develop strategies and creative that make the offering desirable, accessible and available to the consumer, be it a company or an individual. Managers can encourage dissent through the process of appreciative inquiry – that is, the asking of questions designed to elicit different ideas as well as affirm rights of people who want to ask questions.

  • Seek comity. One of the reasons people shy away from compromise is that they feel it is not worth jeopardizing team harmony. True to a degree, perhaps, but team unity is threatened more seriously by failure to compromise. When individuals on a team are competing among themselves to deliver on a project, it is psychologically wearing. As mentioned above, creative tension can be a positive, but emotional tension erodes comity and provokes disagreements and disputes that are directed at personalities rather than projects. It therefore falls to the manager to assuage egos and soothe over hard feelings. Compromises where parties share in the process as well as share in the rewards will make the workplace more harmonious. Sometimes gratification will be deferred. Surrender on one point may not deliver a personal gain, but it will demonstrate that the individual has the strength of character to be a good team player. Such recognition may be the most valuable outcome of compromise.

    Comprise as a Sign of Strength
    As valued as compromise may be to organizational health, there are two instances, at least, where compromise can be damaging. The first instance is ethics. When you compromise over hiring someone with a questionable background, or look the other way over a suspect invoice or inflated expense report, you eat away at the integrity of the organization. Just as one bad apple will spoil the barrel, one bad actor can damage the reputation of an organization and do it irreparable harm. A second instance is values, which are defined as the truths and beliefs that bind people to an organization. When athletes dope themselves to enhance performance, values are thrown by the wayside because dopers violate the spirit of their sport as well as the sanctity of competition. They un level the playing field to the detriment of fellow athletes, spectators and themselves. Everyone loses.

    Compromise is considered an art because it does not result from a process diagram or an employee handbook. Genuine compromise emerges from looking to the hearts and minds of your people to find best possible solutions. Ideally, compromise creates win win situations, but not always. Very often the one who compromises the most is the one who has the most to lose. For example, a project manager who is willing step back from the team and allow others to add their ideas, as well as their labor, to make the project come along may sacrifice her own pet ideas for the good of the whole. That is compromise of the highest order. And it is also known by another name – leadership.

    John Baldoni is a leadership communications consultant who works with Fortune 500 companies as well as non-profits including the University of Michigan. He is a frequent keynote and workshop speaker as well as the author of six books on leadership; the latest is How Great Leaders Get Great Results (McGraw-Hill). Readers are welcome to visit his leadership resource website at www.johnbaldoni.com.
  • Featured Local Company

    Business Process Analytics

    (704) 678-1660
    1437 E. Franklin Blvd., PMB #112
    Gastonia, NC

    Regional Articles
    - Art of Compromise Advance NC
    - Art of Compromise Ahoskie NC
    - Art of Compromise Albemarle NC
    - Art of Compromise Angier NC
    - Art of Compromise Apex NC
    - Art of Compromise Arden NC
    - Art of Compromise Asheboro NC
    - Art of Compromise Asheville NC
    - Art of Compromise Beaufort NC
    - Art of Compromise Belmont NC
    - Art of Compromise Benson NC
    - Art of Compromise Bessemer City NC
    - Art of Compromise Black Mountain NC
    - Art of Compromise Boone NC
    - Art of Compromise Brevard NC
    - Art of Compromise Burlington NC
    - Art of Compromise Burnsville NC
    - Art of Compromise Cameron NC
    - Art of Compromise Camp Lejeune NC
    - Art of Compromise Candler NC
    - Art of Compromise Canton NC
    - Art of Compromise Carrboro NC
    - Art of Compromise Carthage NC
    - Art of Compromise Cary NC
    - Art of Compromise Chapel Hill NC
    - Art of Compromise Charlotte NC
    - Art of Compromise Cherryville NC
    - Art of Compromise China Grove NC
    - Art of Compromise Clayton NC
    - Art of Compromise Clemmons NC
    - Art of Compromise Clinton NC
    - Art of Compromise Concord NC
    - Art of Compromise Connellys Springs NC
    - Art of Compromise Conover NC
    - Art of Compromise Cornelius NC
    - Art of Compromise Dallas NC
    - Art of Compromise Davidson NC
    - Art of Compromise Denver NC
    - Art of Compromise Dudley NC
    - Art of Compromise Dunn NC
    - Art of Compromise Durham NC
    - Art of Compromise Eden NC
    - Art of Compromise Edenton NC
    - Art of Compromise Elizabeth City NC
    - Art of Compromise Elkin NC
    - Art of Compromise Elon NC
    - Art of Compromise Fairmont NC
    - Art of Compromise Fayetteville NC
    - Art of Compromise Fletcher NC
    - Art of Compromise Forest City NC
    - Art of Compromise Fort Bragg NC
    - Art of Compromise Franklin NC
    - Art of Compromise Franklinton NC
    - Art of Compromise Fuquay Varina NC
    - Art of Compromise Garner NC
    - Art of Compromise Gastonia NC
    - Art of Compromise Gibsonville NC
    - Art of Compromise Goldsboro NC
    - Art of Compromise Graham NC
    - Art of Compromise Granite Falls NC
    - Art of Compromise Greensboro NC
    - Art of Compromise Greenville NC
    - Art of Compromise Hamlet NC
    - Art of Compromise Hampstead NC
    - Art of Compromise Harrisburg NC
    - Art of Compromise Havelock NC
    - Art of Compromise Henderson NC
    - Art of Compromise Hendersonville NC
    - Art of Compromise Hertford NC
    - Art of Compromise Hickory NC
    - Art of Compromise High Point NC
    - Art of Compromise Hillsborough NC
    - Art of Compromise Holly Springs NC
    - Art of Compromise Hope Mills NC
    - Art of Compromise Hubert NC
    - Art of Compromise Hudson NC
    - Art of Compromise Huntersville NC
    - Art of Compromise Indian Trail NC
    - Art of Compromise Jacksonville NC
    - Art of Compromise Jamestown NC
    - Art of Compromise Kannapolis NC
    - Art of Compromise Kernersville NC
    - Art of Compromise King NC
    - Art of Compromise Kings Mountain NC
    - Art of Compromise Kinston NC
    - Art of Compromise Knightdale NC
    - Art of Compromise La Grange NC
    - Art of Compromise Laurinburg NC
    - Art of Compromise Leland NC
    - Art of Compromise Lenoir NC
    - Art of Compromise Lexington NC
    - Art of Compromise Lillington NC
    - Art of Compromise Lincolnton NC
    - Art of Compromise Louisburg NC
    - Art of Compromise Lumberton NC
    - Art of Compromise Madison NC
    - Art of Compromise Maiden NC
    - Art of Compromise Marion NC
    - Art of Compromise Marshall NC
    - Art of Compromise Matthews NC
    - Art of Compromise Maxton NC
    - Art of Compromise Mebane NC
    - Art of Compromise Mocksville NC
    - Art of Compromise Monroe NC
    - Art of Compromise Mooresville NC
    - Art of Compromise Morehead City NC
    - Art of Compromise Morganton NC
    - Art of Compromise Morrisville NC
    - Art of Compromise Mount Airy NC
    - Art of Compromise Mount Holly NC
    - Art of Compromise Mount Olive NC
    - Art of Compromise Murphy NC
    - Art of Compromise Nashville NC
    - Art of Compromise New Bern NC
    - Art of Compromise Newland NC
    - Art of Compromise Newport NC
    - Art of Compromise Newton NC
    - Art of Compromise North Wilkesboro NC
    - Art of Compromise Oxford NC
    - Art of Compromise Pembroke NC
    - Art of Compromise Pinehurst NC
    - Art of Compromise Pittsboro NC
    - Art of Compromise Raeford NC
    - Art of Compromise Raleigh NC
    - Art of Compromise Randleman NC
    - Art of Compromise Red Springs NC
    - Art of Compromise Reidsville NC
    - Art of Compromise Roanoke Rapids NC
    - Art of Compromise Rockingham NC
    - Art of Compromise Rockwell NC
    - Art of Compromise Rocky Mount NC
    - Art of Compromise Roxboro NC
    - Art of Compromise Rutherfordton NC
    - Art of Compromise Saint Pauls NC
    - Art of Compromise Salisbury NC
    - Art of Compromise Sanford NC
    - Art of Compromise Selma NC
    - Art of Compromise Shelby NC
    - Art of Compromise Siler City NC
    - Art of Compromise Smithfield NC
    - Art of Compromise Southern Pines NC
    - Art of Compromise Spring Lake NC
    - Art of Compromise Spruce Pine NC
    - Art of Compromise Stanley NC
    - Art of Compromise Statesville NC
    - Art of Compromise Sylva NC
    - Art of Compromise Tarboro NC
    - Art of Compromise Taylorsville NC
    - Art of Compromise Thomasville NC
    - Art of Compromise Trinity NC
    - Art of Compromise Wadesboro NC
    - Art of Compromise Wake Forest NC
    - Art of Compromise Walnut Cove NC
    - Art of Compromise Washington NC
    - Art of Compromise Waxhaw NC
    - Art of Compromise Waynesville NC
    - Art of Compromise Weaverville NC
    - Art of Compromise Wendell NC
    - Art of Compromise Whiteville NC
    - Art of Compromise Wilkesboro NC
    - Art of Compromise Williamston NC
    - Art of Compromise Wilmington NC
    - Art of Compromise Wilson NC
    - Art of Compromise Winston Salem NC
    - Art of Compromise Winterville NC
    - Art of Compromise Yadkinville NC
    - Art of Compromise Zebulon NC
    Related Local Event
    Fuqua/Coach K Conference on Leadership
    Dates: 10/20/2008 - 10/22/2008
    Location: Fuqua School of Business
    Durham NC
    View Details
    Rate Article
         
    Articles Insider

    Rss   Delicious   Digg   Add To My Yahoo   Add To My Google   Bookmark   Search Plugin

    Topics:
    Advertising Educational Content Home Appliances Real Estate Resources
    Business Services Entertainment Home Electronics Software
    Career Family Home Services Technology
    Cars Fashion Internet Telecommunications
    Chamber of Commerce Financial Services Legal Trade Shows
    Computer Hardware Franchise Miscellaneous Travel
    Construction Health Nightlife Weddings
    Education Holidays Online Database World History