The 3 Steps to Finding Win-Win Solutions

Win-win solutions are the most desirable way to solve problems and conflicts. When you win and the other person wins, instead of one winning and the other losing, then everybody is happy and the relationship gets stronger as a bonus.

Although win-win solutions exist in many situations, it is often hard to see them. We need a special way of looking at things in order to discover them. I believe that finding win-win solutions happens through effectively applying 3 essential steps.

Step 1: Take your negative emotions out of the equation

The situations where win-win solutions are not evident and need to be found are situations where our interests initially seem to clash with those of another person. They are situations of apparent opposition and conflict.

It is in these kinds of situations that our negative emotions tend to manifest the most: the fear of losing, the anxiety of not finding a convenient way out, or the anger at the other person. These emotions, especially when they are intense, tend to cloud our judgment and our creativity, which are the exact tools we need to find a win-win solution.

This is why it’s fundamental that you detach from any negative emotions. Firstly, recognize them when they manifest and bring into your awareness the fact they sabotage the process of finding a solution. Secondly, combat the irrational thoughts you may have which feed these emotions. This is in my view the most effective way to deal with them.

Step 2: Focus on the solution

If at the emotional level we have the inconvenience of negative emotions, at the behavioral level we have the trouble brought by passive and aggressive communication. It’s very tempting in a conflict situation to communicate this way: to justify ourselves, blame the other person, criticize, avoid the discussion or dig up the past.

As we do this, we lose track of finding a win-win solution and so we do not find one. The best way to avoid this phenomenon is to anticipate that it may happen and to notice your focus and communication style in conflict situations. And, every time you catch yourself or the other person straying from the solution finding process, bring the focus and the conversation back to it.

Step 3: Explore the context and options

A significant reason why we often don’t find a win-win solution is that we don’t insist hard enough with the solution finding process. We just give a shot in a semi-chaotic way, and then we give up. What we need to do is truly explore the context and the options.

In any conflict situation, start by ensuing that both parts agree to try and work together instead of fighting, and state their goals clearly. Continue by exploring the deeper motivations behind the stated goals and understanding each part’s story.

Then, get creative and generate solutions. Analyze each solution together; compare them in terms of costs and benefits for each side and agree on one win-win solution which best serves both parts. Finally, put that solution into practice. Stick to this process, apply it systemically, and if there is a win-win solution for your situation you will find it.

I believe it is always best to try and find a win-win solution to a conflict. Many viable solutions remain just unapplied theory because people don’t put in the effort to find them and don’t approach the whole process in a constructive, effective way.

We live in an abundant world, with many resources. It’s a pity to not find the best ways to use them and to not share them when this is a sound option.

15 Self-Improvement Tips From Starcraft Progaming

Have you ever played Starcraft? It’s a popular real-time strategy game that was first released in 1998. It’s also one of my favorite games. I still like it today although many newer, more sophisticated games have come out.

Some time ago I learned that there are people who make a living from Starcraft. In South Korea especially, Starcraft games are broadcasted live on TV and professional gamers (progamers) earn big sums of money.

Of course, being a Starcraft fan, I then browsed the materials on how to play Starcraft like a pro. There are tons of resources available. They give you not just specific game strategy and tactics but also tips to improve as a player.

I’m glad to find that many of the tips are also applicable to other fields. No matter what field you are in, you can apply them to improve yourself. They can help you become better at what you do.

I’d like to share what I’ve learned with you. For each point, I’ll give you relevant quotes from Starcraft resources (I list the resources at the end of the post).

Here are 15 self-improvement tips from Starcraft progaming:

1. Pay the price

Pros train 8 to 10 hours a day

There is no shortcut to success. If you want to be successful, you have to pay the price, be it with your time, money, or energy.

2. Study the best to internalize patterns

Studying the progames is a shortcut to figuring out the optimal actions in all situations.

Studying the best people in your field is essential. Why? Because it teaches you the right way to do things. But there’s more:

…merely watching very large quantities of pro games will help in establishing subconscious patterns.

Consistently studying the best people in your field helps you internalize patterns. Later on, when you face a certain situation, these ingrained patterns will enable you to make the right decision.

3. Do an active study

When deeply analyzing games it is crucial that you be actively pausing and thinking, asking questions such as: “What would I do here? Why does he make this move or idea instead?”… Actively compare your thought processes and decisions with what the pro actually makes.

Rather than just studying the best passively, be active and get involved in the thinking process. At every decision point, compare what you would do with what they do. It helps you understand how the best people think.

4. Experiment is your friend

This basic play is the result of countless hours of progamers playing each other and finding the most robust and powerful builds and styles.

How do you find the best strategies? By doing a lot of experiment. Experiment helps you refine your ideas and find the ideas that work.

5. Review your past performances

One important way to develop game sense is studying your own replays exhaustively… The primary benefit of doing so is to merge the details of your in-game perceptions where you are hindered by limited information with the accurate assessment of the replay. If you continuously compare your predictions with the real data, your predictions will definitely become better and better.

This is a good way to improve your decision-making ability. By doing this kind of review, you will be able to see gaps in your past thinking process. You can then adjust your assumptions to make better decisions next time.

6. Know what to do in every situation

Being fast is not about being able to move your hands. It is about knowing what to do in every given situation…

Some people think that being fast means moving faster than other people. But a much more important factor is knowing the right thing to do in every situation. Nothing wastes your time more than making the wrong decisions and doing the wrong tasks.

7. Find more efficient ways to do regular tasks

Given that you know what to do (see previous point), it does help to do your tasks faster. It’s especially helpful to find more efficient ways to do regular tasks since you will do them again and again.

In Starcraft, you need to use different buildings for different purposes throughout the game. Beginner players use their mouse to control the buildings. But good players use keyboard shortcuts that enable them to do things in a much faster way.

8. Take advantage of the situation

Do the map starting locations favor certain builds? Some have more open chokes, forcing them to do different openings. Thus you have better openings to take advantage of it.

Look at the situation you’re in. Does it have certain characteristics that make it suitable for certain actions? Is there an opportunity you can take advantage of?

9. Move out of your comfort zone

Another bit of advice. Never be afraid to lose. Try and go out of your comfort zone whenever you can. Losing if utilized correctly is a lesson to be learned.

…in order to keep improving your multitasking, you must keep playing players that are better than you, that push you, who make you struggle to even stay alive.

I like the way they put it. The point is, you must expand your personal capacity. If you keep doing things you’re already comfortable with, you’re not improving yourself.

10. Have a clear goal

To what purpose are you trying to improve at Starcraft? The only reasonable approach is to figure out your goal first, then make your means fit that goal…

Don’t waste your time by doing things aimlessly. Having a clear goal helps you make the right decisions. It helps you avoid spending time on unnecessary things .

11. Learn from those before you

If you want to be good at Starcraft you must study from those who have come before you. There’s no sense in trying to learn an accelerated 11 years worth of strategy on your own.

If you can learn from those before you, why should you learn things the hard way? Whatever you do, find as much information as possible from those who have done it. It will save you a lot of time.

12. Know why you do something

Thus there will come a point when you have a gap in your knowledge: you understand what is right, but not why it is right, and thus do not have the know how without a direct example of how to defeat inferior ideas…

Knowing what to do isn’t enough; you must also know why. Knowing why helps you adapt to unexpected situations because you understand the thinking process.

13. Dig forgotten wisdom of the past

Yet the best place to find unnoticed ideas and strategy is by studying older champions. There’s a lot of unknown territory out there to explore and realistically, almost nobody is going to look back in time to find ideas since they naturally assume everything has been learned and improved upon.

Many people look for good ideas in the present, but perhaps the best way to find good ideas is by digging the wisdom of the past.

14. Recognize good ideas when they show up

Did I have the ability to create that strategy? Absolutely not. But I recognized the value of the opening while others somehow did not.

Often you don’t need to find good ideas. You just need to spot them when they show up. Be observant and expect ideas in unlikely places.

15. Truly “get” something

Lastly, there is a significant difference between understanding an idea and truly getting it to the point where they can use that knowledge to react instantaneously to a new situation.

If something is important to you, don’t be satisfied with just knowing or understanding it. Immerse yourself in it until you truly “get” it, until you can use it to quickly react to new situations.