Living in a Binary World

Siege mentalities seem to be occurring everywhere you look.  Life seems to have become right & wrong, black & white, and good & bad.  The land in the middle of these polar extremes seems to have vanished, leaving us living in a binary world of only zeroes and ones.  That makes negotiating difficult.

Typically, a siege mentality is displayed by a person believing themselves to be right and everyone else is either wrong or, worse, out to get them. It becomes a me v. them situation.  That quickly devolves into a belief that those not in agreement are “evil or acting with negative” intentions.

A party’s siege mentality makes it difficult to break through in negotiations.  These people are usually resistant to outside information, even from a neutral.  They are reluctant to give up what they believe to be control.  Usually, emotions will flare.

A skilled mediator knows what it takes to punch a hole through a siege mentality.  It’s usually not an easy task but the presence of such a person mandates using a mediator who knows what he/she is doing. 

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