Top o’ the Mornin’ to Ya!
TLDR: Think win-win isn’t just business strategy – it’s a Kingdom mindset where everyone benefits, modeled after God’s eternal perspective when He sent His Son to create a win for Him (having us with Him for eternity) and a win for us (being with Him for eternity).
Did you win today? Did you win yesterday? How many times have you won this week? How many times do you plan to win in the future? Everybody wants to win, and the fourth habit in The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People is “think win-win.”
What?
Some people think that’s not real – just gibberish. “Two people can’t both win at the same time.” But really, it’s true. It takes a little effort in the beginning, but it’s really an eternal way of thinking. As Kingdom Family Leaders, we need to be thinking in that eternal state of win-win.
My coaches recently have their own phrase: “win-win-win-win” – a win for you, a win for the person or organization you’re working with, a win for society, and a win for the entire world. I love that four-win mentality of going even higher. That’s the eternal perspective.
God had a win-win perspective. He sent His son here knowing we would sin, planned that we would make the choices we made in the Garden of Eden and need that solution. That created a win for Him to have us with Him for eternity, and a win for us to be with Him for eternity.
Why?
Simon Sinek wrote a book called “The Infinite Game.” So many businesses and people are just looking out for the short-term game, the short-term solution. But when we look at the infinite game – what does it take for me to transition out of this business? What does it take for my kids to move on in life and do their thing?
Infinite is just an idea outside the scope of our minds, but if we pursue it, it’s like sanctification – that pursuit of righteousness. It’s the unattainable goal with the mindset we need to last forever.
Companies like Hobby Lobby and Chick-fil-A play the infinite game. They believe in win-win. The customer wins because they get treated so well. The workers win because they get treated so well, and since they get treated well, they treat customers well. The company wins because they make massive profits by just doing it right – with that win-win mindset and the infinite game in mind.
Lesson
Stephen Covey also teaches “win-win or no deal.” Sometimes the most powerful position is walking away when you can’t create genuine mutual benefit.
Covey talks about Clydesdale horses – one can pull a certain weight, another can pull the same weight, but when you get them together, they pull a lot more than just double. It’s not just one plus one equals two – it’s synergy (of course that is habit 6) where the whole becomes greater than the sum of its parts but it starts with thinking win-win.
Apply
Think about a situation where you should have taken “no deal.” Where did you compromise your values? Where did you settle for something subpar because you couldn’t find the win-win solution?
In that place, you compromised, settled for something less, let down some of your values while the other person let down some of theirs, and you both got something subpar.
The challenge is to consistently think win-win in your marriage, parenting, business dealings, and community involvement. Ask yourself: “How can everyone benefit from this? How can we create more value together than we could separately?”
This isn’t about being naive or giving everything away – it’s about creative problem-solving that honors everyone involved while building long-term relationships and sustainable success.
Write down a situation where you should have taken “no deal” – where you compromised and got something subpar instead of finding the win-win solution. Share in the Doobly Doo below!
You be blessed!
Habit 4: Think Win-Win – The Kingdom Perspective on Success
