Extracted from Albert Einstein

"Put your hand on a hot stove for a minute, and it seems like an hour;
Sit with a pretty girl for an hour, and it seems like a minute.
That's relativity."

BMA 5406 Negotiation, Mediation, and Conflict Resolution
Self-reflection journal


Kickoff: First Lecture on 18th Aug 2005

I must say I am delightful to have this module. As Biz students, it’s necessary to have sound negotiation skills. Interactions and hands-on exercise, in this case, a pricing game – The Vidget Exercise was undergone. It was basically a game based on game theory (key assumption lies on the basis that nobody can be entrusted).

At the very beginning of the game, without negotiating with the counter party, most players resort to setting the $15 price option (the safe haven). After three rounds, negotiations are open. As the objective is to maximize profits for both sides, we managed to take alternative roles in favoring the opposite party. Hence for the sake of maximizing profits, the targets were achieved.

Remarkably, at the very last round, both the opposite side and we tried to deceive the counterpart, which resembles real business world. By that time, negotiations were closed; basically we could do almost anything. This is the funniest part of all, as we can snap the real nature of the evil side of humankind.

The Apple Story

The apple story of Leo Burnett is an example about believes. The whole story follows:

Apples have been saying "welcome" to Leo Burnett Company visitors since August 5, 1935. On that hot day in the middle of the Depression, supreme optimist Leo Burnett and eight associates opened the doors of their newly formed advertising agency for the first time. To brighten up the place, the receptionist set out a bowl of apples. When word got around Chicago that Leo Burnett was serving apples to his visitors, a newspaper columnist cracked, "It won't be long 'til Leo Burnett is selling apples on the street cornet instead of giving them away."

To be fair, the columnist was only echoing what seemed obvious to everyone but Leo Burnett and his band of believers: that it was the height of folly to start an advertising agency in the midst of the Depression. But what the naysayer didn't understand was Leo's unique blend of vision and logic. "When you're on your economic bottom, then the only way to go is up."

Leo was right. From these beginning, when our entire office staff could sit comfortably around a card table, and three accounts made up our client list, the Leo Burnett Companies today comprise one of the world's largest advertising organizations. And the apples have been on our desks every day. We still offer them to every visitor, and our employees as well. In the last ten years, our Chicago headquarters alone gave away more than two million of them. Currently we give away more than a thousand each working day. Our offices around the world also follow this tradition. So, have an apple on us. We hope it gives you ample food for thought.

I ate the apple this morning. It tasted hard and crisp. Absolutely it isn't a magic apple that turns me into a great adman immediately. But the optimism of Mr. Leo Burnett will be kept in my mind.