Thursday, June 26, 2003

Can "win-win" be a Losing Proposition? Joe Wilmot writes: I don’t like losing. Not that I’m a sore loser who can’t stand the idea of another person beating me in the spirit of friendly competition, but when someone forces their solution to a problem on me it just feels lousy. I think it’s pretty safe to say that just about everybody else feels the same: No one likes losing. Some people hate losing so much that they try every tactic at their disposal to insure they win, even if it’s at the expense of other peoples’ losing. Others may feel that it’s okay to win at others’ expense if they’re doing the "right thing." No matter what the reason, whenever someone wins at the expense of someone else’s losing, someone’s left behind feeling resentful. Think about the cost of that resentfulness in our interactions with our spouses, children, co-workers, vendors, customers, etc. If we no longer fully engage (or alter the way we engage) others for fear of losing "yet again," you can imagine the high cost when others lose our cooperation. For many years now the idea of win-win has gained lots of popularity. "The world is a rich place, plentiful in its resources, there’s always more than one way to solve a problem," say its proponents—but is that really true? Can a win-win solution to every single problem be sought, found and implemented successfully? (06/26/03) Ten Things Everyone Should Know About Race Our eyes tell us that people look different. No one has trouble distinguishing a Czech from a Chinese. But what do those differences mean? Are they biological? Has race always been with us? How does race affect people today? There's less - and more - to race than meets the eye ... (06/26/03) Does your Boss make your Blood Boil? New Scientist -- Unfair bosses can send their employees' blood pressure soaring to levels that significantly increase the risk of heart attack and stroke, reveals newly published research by UK scientists. The study focused on healthcare assistants who worked for two different bosses. For those who only liked one of their managers, their blood pressure jumped when working for the disliked boss. The average rise (15 mmHg systolic and 7 mmHg diastolic) significantly exceeds the rise known to increase the risk of coronary heart disease by a sixth and the risk of stroke by a third, says George Fieldman, a member of the team at the UK's Buckinghamshire Chilterns University College. "There was both a statistically and clinically significant elevation during the time people had the boss they didn't like," says Fieldman, a psychologist and psychotherapist. "People who work with bosses they've really hated constantly for years would probably be quite vulnerable to heart disease because of the elevation of blood pressure in the long-term." Large studies, such as the "Whitehall study", have already shown that people who work at the bottom of an organisational hierarchy are much more likely to develop coronary heart disease. But the new research suggests that the relationship between the employee and boss may be pivotal in employees' long-term health. (06/26/03) 10:04:12 AM

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