Some pitch situations quickly turn into a status game.

The pitching party feels high status because they feel like

they've really nailed it and have an extraordinarily brilliant product that's

totally going to change the world.

And it might be true.

On the other side of the table the decision-maker fields high status,

too, because they get to decide about the proposal and they want you to

know that they have the final say.

They are extraordinarily brilliant in identifying trends.

And that, too, might be true.

There are a couple of situations in which it becomes inevitable that both desires

for higher status clash, for example when one of the parties makes a claim

that the other just must dispute because, well, they know it better and they want

you to know that they know it better.

And that again might be true, but it misses the point because the world at

large couldn't care less about who's right and who's not in these status fights.

No one outside of this meeting room is interested in who's

in charge and who's not.

The only thing that the world cares about is which ideas see the light of day.

If your idea dies, thanks to a status fight no one will care, no one will even

take notice, and no one will miss it.

The right idea in the wrong meeting room, likely isn't worth much when the

parties have status as their top priority.

Change has one more hurdle to overcome before it can happen.

Change happens much easier if we ban status from the meeting room.

If the other party doesn't see it that way, it could very

well be that you're better off looking for a different partner.