Snork
- Thread starter Dan
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I am taking some business courses and no kidding, this was required reading and to funny.
Negotiation Techniques
"Use Humor as a Negotiating Strategy to Mitigate Conflict
Humor has a way of uniting even the most diverse of people. It is extraordinary in its way of producing paradigm shifts. I think humor really is a miracle from the gods. Used wisely, there really is no better way to illustrate a point in your quest for honest and effective communication.
"If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail."
-- Abraham Maslow
The human race has one really effective weapon, and that is laughter.
-- Mark Twain
I do not own (nor do I pretend to own) a corner in the market of truth. Nonetheless, here is the truth according to Fritz:
It Pays To Use Humor as a Negotiating Strategy to Mitigate Conflict
Most of us would probably agree that a key to alleviating unnecessary conflict is honest, effective communication. Honest, effective communication is achieved by a number of strategies discussed in this site, and what is important to remember is this: you bring yourself into every conversation, classroom, career, relationship, situation. And sometimes "who you are", i.e., your emotions, political views, educational level, personality, sexual orientation, and the like, can skew your attempts to really listen to another and empathize with her position.
Many of us are familiar with the expression, "Who you are speaks so loudly I cannot hear what you're saying". There's the rub.
Humor has a way of uniting even the most diverse of people. It is extraordinary in its way of producing paradigm shifts. I think humor really is a miracle from the gods. Used wisely, there really is no better way to illustrate a point in your quest for honest and effective communication.
The humor between male v. female, and vice versa
The following vignette is apparently a true story, which I think is particularly effective in illustrating two points. Point #1: Wherever you go, there you are, including situations fraught with conflict, and Point #2: Humor is an ingenious communication strategy, including in those situations fraught with conflict.
Read the following and see for yourself.
Remember the book "Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus"? Well, here's a prime example offered by an English professor at Southern Methodist University, English 44A, SMU, Creative Writing [Professor Miller]
In-class Assignment for Wednesday: "Today we will experiment with a new form called the tandem story. The process is simple. Each person will pair off with the person sitting to his or her immediate right. One of you will then write the first paragraph of a short story. The partner will read the first paragraph and then add another paragraph to the story. The first person will then add a third paragraph, and so on back and forth. Remember to re-read what has been written each time in order to keep the story coherent. The story is over when both agree a conclusion has been reached."
"The following was actually turned in by two of my English students:
Rebecca - last name deleted, and Gary - last name deleted."
STORY: (first paragraph by Rebecca) At first, Laurie couldn't decide which kind of tea she wanted. The chamomile, which used to be her favorite for lazy evenings at home, now reminded her too much of Carl, who once said, in happier times, that he liked chamomile. But she felt she must now, at all costs, keep her mind off Carl. His possessiveness was suffocating, and if she thought about him too much her asthma started acting up again. So chamomile was out of the question.
(Gary) Meanwhile, Advance Sergeant Carl Harris, leader of the attack squadron now in orbit over Skylon 4, had more important things to think about than the neuroses of an air-headed asthmatic bimbo named Laurie with whom he had spent one sweaty night over a year ago. "A.S. Harris to Geostation 17," he said into his transgalactic communicator. "Polar orbit established. No sign of resistance so far..." But before he could sign off a bluish particle beam flashed out of nowhere and blasted a hole through his ship's cargo bay. The jolt from the direct hit sent him flying out of his seat and across the cockpit.
(Rebecca) He bumped his head and died almost immediately, but not before he felt one last pang of regret for psychically brutalizing the one woman who had ever had feelings for him. Soon afterwards, Earth stopped its pointless hostilities towards the
ful farmers of Skylon 4. "Congress Passes Law Permanently Abolishing War and Space Travel," Laurie read in her newspaper one morning. The news simultaneously excited her and bored her. She stared out the window, dreaming of her youth -- when the days had passed unhurriedly and carefree, with no newspapers to read, no television to distract her from her sense of innocent wonder at all the beautiful things around her. "Why must one lose one's innocence to become a woman?" she pondered wistfully.
(Gary) Little did she know, but she had less than 10 seconds to live. Thousands of miles above the city, the Anu'udrian mothership launched the first of its lithium fusion missiles. The dim-witted wimpyniks who pushed the Unilateral Aerospace Disarmament Treaty through Congress had left Earth a defenseless target for the hostile alien empires who were determined to destroy the human race. Within two hours after the passage of the treaty the Anu'udrian ships were on course for Earth, carrying enough firepower to pulverize the entire planet. With no one to stop them, they swiftly initiated their diabolical plan. The lithium fusion missile entered the atmosphere unimpeded. The President, in his top-secret mobile submarine headquarters on the ocean floor off the coast of Guam, felt the inconceivably massive explosion, which vaporized Laurie and 85 million other Americans. The President slammed his fist on the conference table. "We can't allow this! I'm going to veto that treaty! Let's blow 'em out out of the sky!"
(Rebecca) This is absurd. I refuse to continue this mockery of literature. My writing partner is a violent, chauvinistic, semi-literate adolescent.
(Gary) Yeah? Well, you're a self-centered tedious neurotic whose attempts at writing are the literary equivalent of Valium.
(Rebecca) *******
(Gary) *****
(hehe, guess what they called each other)
Negotiation Techniques
"Use Humor as a Negotiating Strategy to Mitigate Conflict
Humor has a way of uniting even the most diverse of people. It is extraordinary in its way of producing paradigm shifts. I think humor really is a miracle from the gods. Used wisely, there really is no better way to illustrate a point in your quest for honest and effective communication.
"If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail."
-- Abraham Maslow
The human race has one really effective weapon, and that is laughter.
-- Mark Twain
I do not own (nor do I pretend to own) a corner in the market of truth. Nonetheless, here is the truth according to Fritz:
It Pays To Use Humor as a Negotiating Strategy to Mitigate Conflict
Most of us would probably agree that a key to alleviating unnecessary conflict is honest, effective communication. Honest, effective communication is achieved by a number of strategies discussed in this site, and what is important to remember is this: you bring yourself into every conversation, classroom, career, relationship, situation. And sometimes "who you are", i.e., your emotions, political views, educational level, personality, sexual orientation, and the like, can skew your attempts to really listen to another and empathize with her position.
Many of us are familiar with the expression, "Who you are speaks so loudly I cannot hear what you're saying". There's the rub.
Humor has a way of uniting even the most diverse of people. It is extraordinary in its way of producing paradigm shifts. I think humor really is a miracle from the gods. Used wisely, there really is no better way to illustrate a point in your quest for honest and effective communication.
The humor between male v. female, and vice versa
The following vignette is apparently a true story, which I think is particularly effective in illustrating two points. Point #1: Wherever you go, there you are, including situations fraught with conflict, and Point #2: Humor is an ingenious communication strategy, including in those situations fraught with conflict.
Read the following and see for yourself.
Remember the book "Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus"? Well, here's a prime example offered by an English professor at Southern Methodist University, English 44A, SMU, Creative Writing [Professor Miller]
In-class Assignment for Wednesday: "Today we will experiment with a new form called the tandem story. The process is simple. Each person will pair off with the person sitting to his or her immediate right. One of you will then write the first paragraph of a short story. The partner will read the first paragraph and then add another paragraph to the story. The first person will then add a third paragraph, and so on back and forth. Remember to re-read what has been written each time in order to keep the story coherent. The story is over when both agree a conclusion has been reached."
"The following was actually turned in by two of my English students:
Rebecca - last name deleted, and Gary - last name deleted."
STORY: (first paragraph by Rebecca) At first, Laurie couldn't decide which kind of tea she wanted. The chamomile, which used to be her favorite for lazy evenings at home, now reminded her too much of Carl, who once said, in happier times, that he liked chamomile. But she felt she must now, at all costs, keep her mind off Carl. His possessiveness was suffocating, and if she thought about him too much her asthma started acting up again. So chamomile was out of the question.
(Gary) Meanwhile, Advance Sergeant Carl Harris, leader of the attack squadron now in orbit over Skylon 4, had more important things to think about than the neuroses of an air-headed asthmatic bimbo named Laurie with whom he had spent one sweaty night over a year ago. "A.S. Harris to Geostation 17," he said into his transgalactic communicator. "Polar orbit established. No sign of resistance so far..." But before he could sign off a bluish particle beam flashed out of nowhere and blasted a hole through his ship's cargo bay. The jolt from the direct hit sent him flying out of his seat and across the cockpit.
(Rebecca) He bumped his head and died almost immediately, but not before he felt one last pang of regret for psychically brutalizing the one woman who had ever had feelings for him. Soon afterwards, Earth stopped its pointless hostilities towards the
ful farmers of Skylon 4. "Congress Passes Law Permanently Abolishing War and Space Travel," Laurie read in her newspaper one morning. The news simultaneously excited her and bored her. She stared out the window, dreaming of her youth -- when the days had passed unhurriedly and carefree, with no newspapers to read, no television to distract her from her sense of innocent wonder at all the beautiful things around her. "Why must one lose one's innocence to become a woman?" she pondered wistfully.(Gary) Little did she know, but she had less than 10 seconds to live. Thousands of miles above the city, the Anu'udrian mothership launched the first of its lithium fusion missiles. The dim-witted wimpy
niks who pushed the Unilateral Aerospace Disarmament Treaty through Congress had left Earth a defenseless target for the hostile alien empires who were determined to destroy the human race. Within two hours after the passage of the treaty the Anu'udrian ships were on course for Earth, carrying enough firepower to pulverize the entire planet. With no one to stop them, they swiftly initiated their diabolical plan. The lithium fusion missile entered the atmosphere unimpeded. The President, in his top-secret mobile submarine headquarters on the ocean floor off the coast of Guam, felt the inconceivably massive explosion, which vaporized Laurie and 85 million other Americans. The President slammed his fist on the conference table. "We can't allow this! I'm going to veto that treaty! Let's blow 'em out out of the sky!"(Rebecca) This is absurd. I refuse to continue this mockery of literature. My writing partner is a violent, chauvinistic, semi-literate adolescent.
(Gary) Yeah? Well, you're a self-centered tedious neurotic whose attempts at writing are the literary equivalent of Valium.
(Rebecca) *******
(Gary) *****
(hehe, guess what they called each other)
I was waiting for the punchline, but I guess this really was something you read in English class. hahaha. I guess those two know each other from before they had to do a project together.
I read the above, while it seems like an extreme example, I guess it's not far off the mark.
I often wonder how my wife puts up with me sometimes. I suppose she already knew what she was getting. Yesterday:
My wife and I have something in common, we read a lot of books. "A LOT" a lot. So I walk into the kitchen and I see a book she was reading. I say "This looks like a classic."
She says "It is. It's call 'BridesHead Revisited'".
Upon hearing "BridesHead", I remembered that the word means the same thing as "maidenhead". I think most of us know what a maidenhead is. I began to ponder why the book would be called that, and it was beginning to look like an interesting read...
My wife read me like a book and said "The setting is in a wealthy family's mansion which was named 'BridesHead'", looking at me with her "Men!" look.
I just said "Oh" and didn't bother to deny anything. We treasure the honesty we have with each other. If it means admitting my brain was headed for the gutter, well, at least she knows I wouldn't bother lying about it.
I often wonder how my wife puts up with me sometimes. I suppose she already knew what she was getting. Yesterday:
My wife and I have something in common, we read a lot of books. "A LOT" a lot. So I walk into the kitchen and I see a book she was reading. I say "This looks like a classic."
She says "It is. It's call 'BridesHead Revisited'".
Upon hearing "BridesHead", I remembered that the word means the same thing as "maidenhead". I think most of us know what a maidenhead is. I began to ponder why the book would be called that, and it was beginning to look like an interesting read...
My wife read me like a book and said "The setting is in a wealthy family's mansion which was named 'BridesHead'", looking at me with her "Men!" look.
I just said "Oh" and didn't bother to deny anything. We treasure the honesty we have with each other. If it means admitting my brain was headed for the gutter, well, at least she knows I wouldn't bother lying about it.
Is kinda subtle Happy. It infers that even with the best of intentions, negotiations and conflict resolution are some times futile as exemplified there. Men and Woman are exactly the same except for being completely different. LOL
I thought the same thing. There is way more to their relationship then said there. Hot one nighter or some thing.
Hey! I got an 98% as a final grade! Was an easy thing but still kinda cool. Is for CEUs and means absolutely nothing.
LOL Allen;
I thought the same thing. There is way more to their relationship then said there. Hot one nighter or some thing.
Hey! I got an 98% as a final grade! Was an easy thing but still kinda cool. Is for CEUs and means absolutely nothing.
LOL Allen;
Dang Hippies!The dim-witted wimpy
That article is a very good insight of gender's idiosyncrasies, and why we should be in the shop tooling on a MaB waiting for our sandwich...
LOL! That is sooo wrong, and sooo right at the same time!Dang Hippies!
That article is a very good insight of gender's idiosyncrasies, and why we should be in the shop tooling on a MaB waiting for our sandwich...
Carol's Mom is getting up there in age. She is a good and kind soul. I leave and write her notes from the dog. She is getting to the point where she asks how the dog writes em.
"Dear Mrs. Mom,
Just a note letting you know how much I love ya. I may just be a dog but that is not as easy as it seems. I have to bark at stuff all the time. (really, why can't I eat the mailman?) Let's face it, those squirells have it coming!
back to my point, I so enjoy your kind rubs, hugs and love. Your a very kind and giving woman (kinda amazing for a 2 legger)((human))
I so appreceate the treats you sneak me off your plate. (lets keep that our litle secreate as the other 2 are so fanatical about my diet!)
But mostly, I just love you. I enjoy every day waking up to your kind words and pats on the head. Your what every dog prays for. A good and kind soul.
I Love ya Mrs. Ma.
Yours truly and most sincerly,
Shelly DeDawg
PS, I can't sign this. No thumbs."
"Dear Mrs. Mom,
Just a note letting you know how much I love ya. I may just be a dog but that is not as easy as it seems. I have to bark at stuff all the time. (really, why can't I eat the mailman?) Let's face it, those squirells have it coming!
back to my point, I so enjoy your kind rubs, hugs and love. Your a very kind and giving woman (kinda amazing for a 2 legger)((human))
I so appreceate the treats you sneak me off your plate. (lets keep that our litle secreate as the other 2 are so fanatical about my diet!)
But mostly, I just love you. I enjoy every day waking up to your kind words and pats on the head. Your what every dog prays for. A good and kind soul.
I Love ya Mrs. Ma.
Yours truly and most sincerly,
Shelly DeDawg
PS, I can't sign this. No thumbs."
Har! lol Happy
I chase Carol around the kitchen doing that. "...bacon, it smells like bacon.....Whats it say??? I can't read...."
I chase Carol around the kitchen doing that. "...bacon, it smells like bacon.....Whats it say??? I can't read...."
This is David (Not "dave" he gets up set) He is the pet of one of my crazy neighbors and a really cool critter. He (David) loves my shiny MBs but is not a big fan of the dark ones. He on occasion makes a brake for it to go hang out with the kids at the preschool. His hobbies include Shiny things, adoring kids and lettuce. When he does escape at the speed of slow, You will hear from the window; "David got away, when you finish yer beer, can ya grab him?" He is a low speed high flight risk.
APB! Be on the look out! Eventually, he could be cruising by, slowly at a sedate rate of speed. (just not real fast)
He answers to the name; "David" But again, not quickly. He is a Turtle.
APB! Be on the look out! Eventually, he could be cruising by, slowly at a sedate rate of speed. (just not real fast)
He answers to the name; "David" But again, not quickly. He is a Turtle.
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03:24 killercanuck
Twas the day before Christmas, and out in the shop
There was almost silence, then I heard a tool drop
with nary a cuss as he finished tightening the part
he leaned to one side, smiled, and ripped a huge fart
03:24 killercanuck
As pedaled along, and let out the clutch
He checked his fuel level, he wouldn't need much
So he passed all the cagers, filling with fuel and tears
Goodbye all you suckers! I won't need gas till next year!
Twas the day before Christmas, and out in the shop
There was almost silence, then I heard a tool drop
with nary a cuss as he finished tightening the part
he leaned to one side, smiled, and ripped a huge fart
03:24 killercanuck
As pedaled along, and let out the clutch
He checked his fuel level, he wouldn't need much
So he passed all the cagers, filling with fuel and tears
Goodbye all you suckers! I won't need gas till next year!
Was the night before xmas, and out in the shop
A sound like a gun went off, someone called a cop
Cop pulled his gun, raising it in the air
"It's just my MaB backfire, you really needn't care"