Template:Onworld and offworld negotiation: Difference between revisions

The same dynamic exists in a [[negotiation]]. The [[JC]] snookered himself into using a [[quadrant|four box quadrant]] to illustrate this — he has an irrational fear of four-box quadrants because thought-leaders are so fond of them — but they do seem to fit to make a general point here because there are two perpendicular axes at play: ''How many'' people are you speaking to, and ''in what medium''.

In terms of our [[Onworld]]/[[Offworld]] distinction let us make some value judgments: whether we like it or not, we inhabit a [[Complexity|complex]], non-linear world. Players of “keepy-uppy” and like-minded constructive, [[Infinite game|infinite games]] get along, and get on, a lot better than those who play backward-looking, bounded, [[finite game]]s.  

In such a world, personal, creative, immediate, and ''[[substantive]]'' communications beat impersonal, delayed, and [[Formal|formalistic]] ones. Now your “medium of communication” can take a more or less ''personal'', and ''immediate'' form. The ''least'' personal and immediate communications are ''written'' ones (here the message is, literally, removed from the sender’s personality and, even where transmitted immediately, need not be answered in real time). The ''most'' personal and immediate ones are in actual, analogue person — like that ever happens these days — and failing that, a video call where you can ''see'' and ''hear'' nuance, then an audio call where you can just ''hear'' it. But any of these is vastly superior to written communication.

 

 

How ''many'' people are in your audience is just as important. The more there are, the more formal you must be, the more generalised, the less opportunity for there is for nuance and that lubricating milk of human frailty, wit. The more people there are, the less will be their common interest — cue appeals to take things off-line. Plainly, the more people there, are the greater the cultural, social and human barriers to unguarded communication rise will there be