Chapter 4 The Danger of Knee-Jerk Reactions 61
mouths of the losers. The Pyrrhic nature of the victory becomes evident when we try to build support for our next change. It is then we realize the cost of winning was too high.
Game theory teaches that in economics, trade, and even war, the unbridled urge to win escalates conflicts, often resulting in stalemates or extremely costly victories. Game theory searches for alternatives to these zero-sum games (games with a winner and a loser—or in this case, two los- ers) by suggesting that players look for strategies in which both sides can either win or keep losses to a minimum.
Among these strategies you may recognize two or three of your personal knee-jerk favorites. Don’t feel bad; these are the ways most of us first react when people resist us. We anticipate what others might be thinking, and suddenly we find ourselves using a strategy without thinking about it.
The key is not allowing that internal reaction—that shot of adrena- lin—to throw us off balance.
It is also important to consider your personal knee-jerk reactions aswell as those your organization typically uses. For example, you often may use force of reason, while the corpora- tion tends to use power without ever thinking about it. Consider how youdeal with resistance at both levels, the personal and the organizational. Understanding how you typically respond is the first step in finding better alternatives.
Learn what triggers knee-jerks in you, and then begin to notice the early warning signs. Experiment with ways of avoiding these reactions or ways that you might get out of a mess mid-jerk.
Hint: The best early warning signal is your body: it reacts instantly. Muscles tighten. Fists clench. Heart rate increases. These signals are avail- able to us far more readily than our thoughts or feelings about the situa- tion. In the world of knee-jerks, thoughts and awareness of feelings come ages after the body first reacts.