I was asked to chair a high-level, politically-charged working group in my company, a task I admit I approached with some trepidation. Our group quickly encountered a sticky problem. One of the members (I'll call her Jane) became disgruntled over a decision the group had made, and this threatened to stop our deliberations. So, in an effort to promote goodwill and further the discussions, the rest of us conceded to Jane's wishes on that particular point.
This enabled our work to progress, but as the weeks passed and our proposal was taking shape, it became increasingly clear to me that our concession to Jane's demand had been ill-conceived. We were already too far into the process to renege, however, and when I did broach the subject once or twice, I found that now I was the sole dissenter. So I stayed quiet, but uncomfortable.
The most effective negotiation and mediation tool I've utilized over the years is prayer—prayer based on the Ten Commandments See Ex. 20:3–17 . and Jesus' Sermon on the Mount. See Matt. chaps. 5–7 . I'd seen how God provides complete solutions, which include contentment and unity, as well as fairness.
