We can only speak of Fair Share if all those involved feel they have success with their projects and got enjoyment during those said projects. What ‘success’ is doesn’t primarily depend on what you are earning and what your reward is from those projects. Fair Share will only be visible if there are well-defined objectives and the participants 'feel' that they have achieved their hidden goals.
Fair Share began with the discovery that people have different hidden goals. These goals are the result of differences in DNA, environment and many other factors.
From a combination of these hidden goals one’s mentality can be derived and measured. A combination of hidden goals ensures that people choose particular activities or projects and avoid other ones that don’t suit them. By engaging in appropriate activities or projects that suit, people can develop abilities and skills. A cooperation has the best chance of success if not only the collaborators’ skills have been assessed but also most importantly their mentality.
For, a wonderful cv filled with a lot of skills and capabilities or competences, is no guarantee of Fair Share; because hidden goals are not mentioned. Who wants to take on a ‘good banker’, PR person or even an accountant as a business partner, if he follows hidden goals like ego-tripping or greed? You will probably not.
Taking on people with the wrong hidden goals for the activities you want to engage in, would not produce Fair Share. To produce Fair Share we need three thnings. To specify the objectives, the activities what are needed to achieve them, the ‘right’ people to execute the necessary activities. To assess the ‘right’ people we have to know their skills and --above all-- their hidden goals.
The first time I used this method was in the privatisation process of a company. The result was achieved half a year before the planned date, and ample money remained unused. What was more important: all parties concernd experienced a lasting sense of satisfaction.
I told the management of the company that I was proud that my method had worked well. Then I was asked an incisive question that would totally change my life: “Have you ever used your method for yourself, and how did it go?” I frankly replied: "Advisors rarely do themselves what they advise others. But you have a point. I believe in my method, and I’ll make an honour bet with you and think about a project and come up with something very difficult, against which I’ll assess my method.”
Three months later I had a project in mind. Within one year in Andalusia in the middle of nowhere, I was going to have a house built, designed by myself and endorsed by all required official permissions and registrations. We have live in that house for twenty years now, although it was not the original intention of the bet.
In the area where the house was going to be built, there is no clear co-ordination tradition; the people I chose for the project were reluctant to go and see the spot. Yet, I wanted to see them all together at least once, and on the land where the building had to take palace. The contractor, architect, supervisor, legal permits advisor, and a co-ordinator appointed by me, not all of them knew each other. I had to think about such a hurdle for a few days before I found the solution. I invited each of them individually to dinner, without telling them that I invited the other people too. The restaurant I had chosen was located just near the building site. These people were really reluctant to visit the spot, but there was no other way around it.
That is an example of focusing on people’s hidden goals. After this ‘operation’, all people concerned were highly satisfied with the course of events and the outcome.
This example is described in detail in my book Management According to the Fair Share Concept and the Hidden Goals. I can already tell that there were only two incidents in that one year, which were quickly resolved. I stayed most of the time two tousand kilometers away from the buiding project. My main team-mate was the contractor. I told him that he had never had a customer like me. I promised never to complain or whine about his work method. On the contrary, I would help to find solutions for eventualities. We negotiated the budget. Should the budget be exceeded, I would make an additional payment. And if it turned out that the expenditure was below what was budgeted, the contractor would reimburse the difference. In the end is was me who got money back. I then suggested we all go to the restaurant and pay with that money; the contractor increased the amount, so that everyone who had been involved in the construction —36 people— happily sacrificed their free Saturday afternoon for the dinner.
Since a person’s hidden goals ensure that one chooses particular activities and would rather avoid others, a learning process has already been instigated at a young age whereby especially those skills are developed for which one has a particular aptitude. Unfortunately, most children are often encouraged to do activities that do not fit well with their hidden goals. I call such activities borrowed goals. Adults, too, are at one time or another convinced that you should act a certain way in order, for example, to be successful in your work or happy in your relationship or life. Everyone has all the hidden goals to a greater or lesser degree in themselves, but no one will get very far with borrowed goals. Success and sustainability can only be controlled by embarking on activities that fit well with your own skills or ‘tricks’ and hidden goals combination.
However, saying is one thing and doing is another. In order to achieve a goal, good cooperation is essential. Therefore, choose the right people for each activity in your life. You can’t improve the world, but you can start with creating a better world for yourself.
If you want to get success and continuity in your work and activities, business and personal relationships, using the Fair Share method and tools will be very useful.
Fair Share is a method to help people to make deals (and build a cooperation or teams) to achieve a fair share feeling for all parties concerned. The concerning parties have to know (in advance) what they want (W's&Hs). Depending on their HGs they can feel (and say) if they are satisfied with the ongoing process and with the results.
Dr. Andreas Eppink