Agreement

Agreement is an area I have often found elusive – with relationships ranging from unspoken expectations to formalized contracts, with a vast disconnect between. As part of our struggle to communicate, I have found clear agreement to be a challenge not to be overlooked.

Agreement is the foundation that must be laid for relationships and organization to be built upon. Without clear agreement we only have personal expectation and assumption to guide the process. Graceful agreement is another prerequisite for successful collaboration. The following law and principles are taken from The Book of Agreement: 10 Essential Elements for Getting the Results You Want by Stuart Levine. You can find the 10 Elements of Agreement are here.

LAW OF AGREEMENT

Collaboration is established in language by making implicit (talking to yourself about what you think the agreement is)  and explicit (discussing the agreement with others) agreements.

PRINCIPLES OF AGREEMENT

1. The source of productivity and fulfillment in personal and professional relationships is effective collaboration.  The more seamless the collaboration, the stronger the results.
2. We work and live in a “sea” (context) of agreement.
3. We never learned the essential elements of an effective  agreement.
4. Clear agreements are empowering.  They express a shared vision and a road map to desired results.
5. Clear agreements improve the chances for satisfaction.  They set up the conditions that produce delighted clients, customers, teammates, colleagues, vendors, and family members.
6. Practice enables you to craft masterful agreements.
7. Collaboration and agreement for results is simple, but it is not easy.  It requires thoughtfulness and clear thinking on the front end, before you move into action, and a commitment to get through conflicts.
8. No matter how clear and complete the agreement, everything will not be addressed–conflicts and differences will arise that you must be prepared to resolve.
9. Breakdowns are not a cause for alarm; they are to-be-expected opportunities for creativity.
10. Resolving conflicts leads to new agreements.

Establishing Agreement

I use the Blueprint of We as a collaborative process for building agreement. The process and components provide a creative structure to continue to cultivate interpersonal awareness and conscious communication, and paves the way for ongoing dialogue, decision making, and conflict transformation. It provides a clear path to custom design your relational and organizational container, establish authenticity, clarify agreements, navigate conflict, and determine time frames.