Paolo, you often challenge the idea that every deal creates a winner and a loser. Can you explain further?

Ah, yes—this is one of the most deeply ingrained myths in the world of business, and life in general, that every deal or negotiation has to produce a winner and a loser. It’s this idea that for one side to gain something, the other side has to lose something, that success for one person or company automatically means a loss for another. And honestly? That’s a deeply flawed, outdated way of thinking.

This mindset is rooted in a scarcity mentality—the belief that there’s only so much to go around, and if I take a bigger slice of the pie, you’re left with less. But that’s not how the world really works, especially in today’s interconnected, collaborative environment. The idea of a "win-lose" scenario creates a false sense of competition where there doesn’t need to be any. It’s about fighting for power or control, instead of building value together.

The truth is, the best deals—the ones that last, the ones that lead to long-term success—are win-win situations, where both sides walk away feeling like they’ve gained something meaningful. It’s about finding solutions that create more value for everyone involved, not just taking what you can and leaving the other person short-changed. Think about it: if one side walks away feeling like they’ve lost, that’s going to lead to resentment, and in the long run, that damages the relationship and kills future opportunities. Nobody wants to keep doing business with someone who always has to "win" at their expense.

Collaboration—that’s the key. It’s not about two sides competing to come out on top, but about working together to create something greater than what either party could have achieved alone. You want deals where both parties are aligned in their interests, where they’re building towards a common goal. That’s where the real magic happens—when both sides see the bigger picture and realize they can create more together than they could by trying to outdo each other.

When people get stuck in the "win-lose" mentality, they’re often driven by ego, by the need to prove that they’re better, smarter, or more powerful than the other side. But that’s just small thinking. True leadership, true vision, comes from collaboration and mutual respect. It’s about seeing the deal as a partnership, not a competition.

This false concept also limits innovation. When both parties are focused on just getting the best out of each other, they miss out on the opportunity to co-create something new, something that’s bigger than the sum of its parts. When you approach a deal from a win-win perspective, you open up the space for creative solutions, for new ideas to emerge, because both sides are working toward the same goal, not against each other.

So, to put it simply: deals don’t need a winner and a loser. The most successful, transformative deals are the ones where both sides win, where they both walk away feeling like they’ve gained something, and where the relationship is strengthened for the future. When we drop the scarcity mentality and embrace a mindset of abundance and collaboration, we stop seeing the other side as a threat, and we start seeing them as a partner in building something greater than we could have built alone.

That’s where the real power lies—not in beating someone, but in creating something bigger, together.