3.1.4 What lies behind this?

Course subject(s) Module 3. Trust in Networks

It would appear that the CFO knows that almost anyone asking for funding will ask for a higher figure than really required. This is all part of the game part of the negotiation process.

The difference between 120 and 100 is not much it is within the bandwidth in which it is reasonable to increase the figure. The CFO actually knows that someone asking for 120 is ultimately aiming at around 100.

However, the difference between 180 and 100 is quite significant it is no longer within the bandwidth in which an increase is reasonable. 

So anybody who increases the figure within reasonable margins which you might call lying, is still seen as trustworthy by the CFO. Someone who does not do that is not to be trusted.

There appears to be an implicit, tacit rule at play here: it is permitted to play with the truth – to lie as long as it is proportional and therefore predictable.

This brings us to the answer to the dilemma we just saw.

You remain trustworthy, if you stick to certain rules.

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Influencing Stakeholders: Dealing with Power and Dynamics in Teams and Networks by TU Delft OpenCourseWare is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at https://online-learning.tudelft.nl/courses/influencing-stakeholders-dealing-with-power-and-dynamics-in-teams-and-networks/.
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