The dessert

Whether to invest in the long-term or the short-term will be a matter of negotiation, trying to meet both needs. A fun activity to practice negotiation is “The Desert.” This game is played with at least three people.

• Imagine you’re driving in the desert with colleagues. Suddenly, you run out of fuel, and there’s nothing around. Someone has to go and find fuel as you need to be at the airport in three hours for your flight. One person volunteers, walks an hour, and finds a petrol station. You can still make your flight. But the petrol station has a “closed” sign. The person decides to enter anyway and finds a member of staff inside. What do you do?

• Another person plays the member of staff. Unbeknown to the participants the member of staff also has an interest. The power is down, and he has no internet connection. He must send an important email about his wife’s surgery but can’t without power.

• The participants go outside and enter one by one, playing the person seeking petrol. Each scene lasts 1.5 to 2 minutes. Once someone has acted, they stay inside to watch the others. Only when someone genuinely considers the member of staff’s interest, will he be willing to consider their interest. He is critical: if a participant tries to pull one over on them, they get nothing.

• Discuss what you can achieve by considering both parties’ interests. Can you find a solution benefiting both? What happens if you only consider your own interest? Can you fulfill your interest differently than by making demands?