Effective Cooperation

Cooperation is a extremely difficult thing to fully achieve. Yet, it's a skill we eventually learn just by simply growing up. Through our many interactions in life, we have to make choices along with other people. Being an older brother, arguing with my younger brother is typical, and our decisions often directly clash with each other. Something as simple as "What's for dinner" can turn into a "No I don't like that" fight in the family, making everyone stressed out until we finally figure something out.
Well, that's what the 4th Habit's for, to find out how to effectively cooperate with each other, without everything turning into chaos over very simple things.

Covey boils down human interaction into six main categories; Win/Win, Win/Lose, Lose/Win, Lose/Lose, Win, and Win/Win or No Deal (206). These six categories are in essence, what happens when we argue or agree with each other in a discussion. For example, people that like to build off each other's ideas when contributing in a group would be a Win/Win scenario. Both ideas are being portrayed equally, and support each other. Covey also describes it as it being "not your way or my way; it's a better way, a higher way" (207). Going back to my crises over dinner, I'm sure a lot of people wanted to have their option chosen over others in many other situations. That is a example of a Win/Lose scenario, one person's idea is the one that is accepted or wins, while the other is forced to go along with that idea, despite not liking the idea fully. Now if you're more of a passive person when it comes to arguments, you would be in a Lose/Win scenario. At your expense, you are letting others have their way, just to keep things peaceful (209). As a older brother, it's really relatable as it's something I have to do often just to make sure my brother stops annoying me. When conflicts get out of hand, to the point where you're practically screaming at each other, that's a Lose/Lose scenario. No one gets any good out of it, and essentially it's just a argument with no one listening to each other. There is also just the plain Win category, a sort of selfish method of securing your own victory, while letting the other person do their own thing (210). The final, sixth type is Win/Win or No Deal. It is essentially the same as Win/Win, however both people "agree to disagree agreeably" should there be something both parties are not in full support of (213). The hopeful goal to reach effective cooperation is to go for Win/Win, or Win/Win or No Deal scenarios as much as possible.

Some of the things I have done to deal with my little brother is to either take turns or share, not very often though. Fortunately some of the games I play have split-screen, so just plain sharing the video game is an option. Sometimes, we also play a game to see who wins and gets to play. Then, when it

comes down to things like dinner, each person has a say of what they want to eat that week. These simple things help prevent a Win/Lose scenario from escalating into a Lose/Lose.

We often settle it with our own created characters in Soul Calibur IV

Well, thank you again for reading this post! I know this one was more wordy than my previous ones, but it's all to help you guys become more effective people!

Alright so my question for this post is,

How effective do you think your cooperation skills are, based on your recent interactions?

Covey, Stephen R. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1990. Print.