Focus on your needs in a contract. Neither of you will sign a contract unless you both get what you need.
ADAGE
Use Win-Win Agreements
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RESPONSE
Focus on your needs in a contract. Neither of you will sign a contract unless you both get what you need. The winner is not the one who obtains the most hostile provisions. It is the one looking a few steps ahead of the other. Use your attorney sparingly. Never allow your attorney to craft business strategy or influence business judgments. Your contracts are not only legal documents. They are the terrain on which you work to assure that you will maximize your fair share of the value generated by the relationship both during and after the contract. Contracts don’t have to be long, detailed, or hostile to accomplish that goal—in fact those attributes can interfere with that goal. Most attorneys craft deal-breaking contracts designed to protect your interests in all situations. You have to be able to mediate reasonable risk. Contracts aim to regulate future behavior, boxing in businesses and limiting their operating options. Lawyers often promote an adversarial sentiment in negotiations, justifying their services. God does not delight in such behavior. Christians prioritize seeking the best interest of both parties and not taking advantage of others. Negotiations should leave both parties feeling like winners, and partnering with adversarial parties will not be saved by fancy lawyering.
SCRIPTURE
Leviticus 19:13 Do not defraud or rob your neighbor. Do not hold back the wages of a hired worker overnight.
Deuteronomy 4:13 And he declared to you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, that is, the Ten Commandments, and he wrote them on two tablets of stone.
QUESTIONS
How do the Scripture(s) apply to the business adage?
How are contracts like covenants?
Is there an ever a time when you should you enter into a contract that benefits the other party more than it benefits you?
Do you think there is no such thing as a win/win contract?
How do you begin to construct a contract that benefits both parties equally?
How do you sideline lawyers who might exploit the contract process?
DOWNLOAD
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