Relationship Economics, 3rd Edition

CHAPTER 7Relationship Economics, Co-Create, and Curve Benders

In the previous chapters, my focus has been to help you understand the following issues:

1. Business relationships are more than a “nice to have.”
2. Relationships should be more than a simple transaction.
3. Creating a job description and shoving someone in it is not sustainable if you don't create a culture where they feel they belong to something more than a paycheck.
4. Project plans are dramatically more effective if you prioritize relationships with key stakeholders.
5. Supply chains move more smoothly if you connect the relationships.
6. Beyond relationship creation, it takes resolve and diligence to bridge your efforts to relationship capitalization. In essence, you must go beyond intellectually understanding the importance of business relationships to grasping their significance in every facet of your work and life.

In this final chapter, I want to help you see what I refer to as my Star Wars trilogy of Relationship Economics, Co-Create, and Curve Benders. Suppose you watch the original Star Wars movies. In that case, in Episode IV (A New Hope), Episode V (The Empire Strikes Back), and Episode VI (Return of the Jedi), individually, you'll get to know Luke Skywalker. Watch all three, and you'll know him much better. That character development, which makes the story much richer through the series, is what I've tried to bring to my research, examples, and interviews over the past two decades in these three books.

Let's examine ...