Loving the Deal - Business of Aesop? No. 85 - The Lion in Love
Gregg Zegarelli Esq.
Managing Shareholder at Technology & Entrepreneurial Ventures Law Group, PC
Love is often a good thing.?Yes, I started to write that love is always a good thing.?And then I started to write that love is usually a good thing.?But, to be more rational, I think it's best to say that love is "often" a good thing.
Whether love is good thing would seem to depend upon the cause and the object of the affection.?What we love, and why we love it, would seem to be relevant to any determination of whether love is a good thing.?We know that there are?all sorts of things we love that are bad, in one way or another.
The great wise Socrates addressed this issue about 1,500 years ago in The Republic of Plato.?Socrates said that it is disharmony in a human being if a person's emotional facility (heart) does not submit to the person's rational facility (brain), in the same way that a republic is in disharmony if the army (heart) does not submit to the command of the government (brain).?When an army is out of control, it is disharmony; when emotions are out of control, it is disharmony.
Socrates, a tried and true soldier in his youth,?never said the well-ordered state should not have an army, or that humans should not emote.?Indeed, a healthy condition of the human body or political body, as the case may be, should have both.?
Socrates said that a well-ordered human has a strong mind, and strong emotions, but that the emotions are ultimately under the control of the mind, simply because it is the mind's job to make decisions, including when or to the extent that it is wise to feel.
Socrates said that a well-ordered human has a strong mind, and strong emotions, but [it is the] mind's job to make decisions, including when or to the extent that it is wise to feel.
The army can go on a campaign, but it must return when the government commands.?In the same way, the heart is free to love, until the mind says, "time to come home"...?Harmony is found not in the fulfillment of going away, harmony is found in the submission and concession to come home when commanded by a rational determination.
Yes, yes, indeed, throwing all rationality to the wind for any emotion (good or bad emotions) does sometimes work out well in effect, but Socrates would call this lucky, not wise.?And luck is bad strategy.
As an attorney, when I have a client who is in love with?a deal, it can be a very dangerous thing from a strategic perspective.?A deal negotiation, in a way, is like an auction.?There is rational point of a good deal, with the possibility that a loving desire for the object will cause paying too high a price.?Some mistakes are catastrophic.?Did you ever watch Shark Tank??It illustrates the message for clients who are looking for investors:
The investors don't love your product; investors love the money that your product creates.?There is a difference.
Similarly, note the differences between these two statements, "I am worried" versus "I am concerned." Or, "I am in love with this deal" versus "This deal makes a lot of sense." In both respective statements, the former is a function of emoting, and the latter is a function of thinking.
The great wise Aesop also teaches that must ultimately stay rational when making decisions.?
For 2,500 years, he's been right there telling us, "don't fall in love with the deal," with one of my personal favorites,?The Lion in Love, re-stated for you here:
No. 85. The Lion?in Love
A Lion fell in love with a beautiful Maiden and proposed marriage with her to her Parents.?
The Parents neither wanted the Lion to marry their daughter, nor wanted to offend the Lion.?The Father said:
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"We are honored, but we fear you might do our daughter some injury.?If you should have your claws and teeth removed, then we would consider your proposal."
The Lion was so in love that he removed his teeth and claws.?
But when the Lion returned to the Parents, sans teeth and claws, they simply laughed in his face, and bade him to do his worst.?
Moral of the Story: Love is the start of folly.
The Lion was in love with the deal.?Foolish Lion.?
Foolish acts need luck, and we know that luck is bad strategy.?For this deal, the Lion was unwise and unlucky.?Cruel injustice!?Cruel disharmony!?Now, the Lion has no deal, no teeth, no claws, and no Maiden.?
And, did you notice that Aesop?drives his point home by purposefully using his Lion, Aesop's most powerful symbol of strength and regency!?Aesop is?letting us know, by implication, that no one is safe from a tendency to violate the rule of foolishly falling in love with the deal!?
The mind thinks, and the heart feels, each has a place, but the mind—being the seat of wisdom—says where and how far each is to go.?It is the mind that controls when the price is too high, or the risk too great.?The emotional acts of today will not withstand the rational scrutiny of tomorrow.
Therefore, yes, loving the deal?is always a good thing, but only when it is wise to love the deal.
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*?Gregg Zegarelli, Esq., earned both his Bachelor of Arts Degree and his Juris Doctorate from Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His dual major areas of study were History from the College of Liberal Arts and Accounting from the Business School (qualified to sit for the CPA examination), with dual minors in Philosophy and Political Science. He has enjoyed Adjunct Professorships in the Duquesne University Graduate Leadership Master Degree Program (The Leader as Entrepreneur; Developing Leadership Character Through Adversity) and the University of Pittsburgh Law School (The Anatomy of a Deal). He is admitted to various courts throughout the United States of America.
Gregg Zegarelli, Esq.,?is Managing Shareholder of?Technology & Entrepreneurial Ventures Law Group, PC.?Gregg is nationally rated as "superb" and has more than 35 years of experience working with entrepreneurs and companies of all sizes, including startups,?INC. 500, and publicly traded companies.?He is author of?One: The Unified Gospel of Jesus,?and?The Business of Aesop? article series, and co-author with his father,?Arnold Zegarelli, of?The Essential Aesop: For Business, Managers, Writers and Professional Speakers.?Gregg is a frequent lecturer, speaker and faculty for a variety of educational and other institutions.?
? 2015 Gregg Zegarelli, Esq.?Gregg can be contacted through?LinkedIn.
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