Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Negotiation in practice.
I think its a huge joke to see how people really negotiate in real life. The most classic example being the current crisis of the 23 (now 21) koreans being held hostage by the taleban. in my earnest people, i think they are all gonna die. in layman term possible... there is no bargaining zone. Taleban point of view: release our prisoners or the koreans will die. Afghan government: Unconditional release of the hostage. Release them or YOU WILL ALL DIE. is there any common ground? not really. let me put it across in a simpler way. a tenant (afghan) tell the landlord (taleban) to lower the rent... what's the most likely outcome? your landlord will probably gonna ask you to move out cos there is someone out there is who is willing to pay the same price as you are paying now...
not to forget... these bunch of people (taleban) have some loose screw in their heads who resort to violence to resolve problems... in the name of religion? damn it... that is really perverse fanactism... i wonder how can any one be so occult. its like i get quite disturb when i see mickey mouse and harley davidson tatoo... its really all the same. successful marketing to the extend that it become part of culture.
nonetheless i have digress. honestly, that is real lousy negotiation. we have seen umpteen time in movie. someone got held hostage, a negotiator is sent and the negotiator will try to compromise on the "intangible", eg food whenever possible... but in reality what they are trying to do? trying to use the rare occasion that these taleban walks out in broad daylight to hunt them down once and for all. quite funny, if u ask me. cos its obvious that afghan govt is resorting to the hollywood style tricks... especially the trademark move of keeping silence... i remember i see it all the time.
pity if you ask me... taleban aren't noobs nor stupid but my guess is... the koreans are as good as dead. though i ain't religious... my only comment is... if i am god, i probably won't allow this to happen anyway.
posted @ 11:23 PM ||
Saturday, July 21, 2007
Lonely Planet Suck
I don't understand the hype over lonely plant. When i read the book, the first thing it struck me was... yeah... the author's tone is really.... LONELY. The book is really boring, wordy and lacks feeling on every single page. Let me tell you what separate it from Eye Guide (my personal favourite Travel book publisher).
Its in black and white... not exactly, there is some shades of red here and there on maps. but most importantly... NO PHOTOGRAPH. what is this man? u write one whole thick book, describing everything in detail. but from one point of view, i cannot visualise ONE BIT of it. and the language use is so dull. it uses the same few word to describe many different place and it didn't even bother to use capitivating phrases like"MUST GO", "Not to be missed". but what the heck, the lack of photograph is a big turn off.
I guess much of it has to be blame with the fact the book tried to remain objective in its perspective for the travel book. but hey, let's be honest, a travel book should NEVER be objective. for a simple reason. I only have a limited time within the city, naturally, I hope the book will help me decide the itinery by placing more emphasis on the more popular hot spots rahter than making everything sound mediocre.
Much less to say... the price for a lousy book is exhorbitant... $45 bucks for a lousy book that I feel probably can do something better if i spend the same amount of time in a country as the author. but still i feel this book is not too bad. it beats sleeping pills. its has no side effect and i guarantee u folks a good 7-8 hour of good night sleep after spending 60 minute of it.
posted @ 9:09 PM ||
Monday, July 16, 2007
Different Perspective
Background:
2 guys A and B were tasked to come up with a transcript to a forum held earlier. There is one gal, C that is somewhat caught in between them (you can assume that is the current relationship, though somewhat untrue, as i have no intention to elaborate). Here is an interesting story from an incident from 2 person's perspective.
Girl C: Guy B walk up to me to enquire where Guy A is. He is holding on to an edited copy of the transcript and was looking for Guy A so that Guy A can vet through it. Then Guy A pops by out of no where and ask me if i wanna attend a tea buffet for the staff. he takes a look at the transcript and left without even a reply from me. Guy B then left, having accomplish what he set out to do. i realise i didn't know the location of the buffet and i called Guy A to find out the exact location. knowing the location, i left the office, but i realise i haven't been to the meeting venue before and neither do i know how to get there, so despite being it so near the office, i take quite some time to find it.
Guy A: I walked pass Girl C desk and realised Guy B standing there, in a suggestive position, holding on to a copy of the transcript and Girl C was reading it. Hmm... funny, thought both of us were suppose to work together, why was girl C in the picture. Maybe Guy B is trying to pull a fast one. Oh well, doesn't matter. I invited Girl C to a tea buffet for the staff as without another word, i took the transcript and head back to my own desk. dump the script and left for the meeting. soon, Girl C then called to ask of the location of the buffet. and despite the short distance, it took her 15 minute to appear. hmm.. probably too engross with Guy B.
i realise the huge difference between the 2 party perspective. i just suddenly found this illustration quite epic. many misunderstanding and quarrel bcos we fail to look at things from the other parties perspective. and that is essentially what the quarrel are all about. are quarrels good? maybe... but if we always remember to ask ourselves... how did that scenario appear from the other parties point of view, we probably can avoid a quarrel. but of course, if it boils down to a dispute... then go for it. avoidance for a dispute will, in my own opinion, worsen situation.
posted @ 12:05 AM ||
