Bingo based decision making
Posted by Lee-Anne Ragan | Filed under Conflict resolution, Travel
I’m traveling and working in Brazil, for the United Nations, and recently had a curious example of decision making using Bingo.
The tale happens in Rio Quente, a resort anchored around a thermal river. Think every kind of water themed event and you’ll get the picture, including snorkeling with 6 foot long arapaima fish and sliding down a massively steep half pipe on a small inflatable boat.
One balmy evening we decided to go to the 1970’s disco themed show. Before the show, oddly enough, a bingo table was wheeled out. Being game for strange adventures I bought two bingo cards for my kids to play. We sat up very close to the callers, straining our necks to see the board because we didn’t understand the calls in Portuguese.
By some miracle my son won. The equivalent of $65. Sweet!
Fast forward to check out time. Do you think we could find the winning receipt? I emptied packs, looked under the bed, and any other corner I could find with no luck. Our next adventure, the road to Rio was calling and I was getting desperate.
Then we remembered we’d taken a picture of Jeremy with his winning ticket. Voila! A simple cut, paste and enlarge and we had the ticket. I was ecstatic.
Until the desk person wouldn’t accept it. I tried pointing out the ticket number, clearly visible in the photo. He only shook his head. This went on for some minutes.
I was getting more annoyed, frustrated at the apparent brick-walling. No creativity here.
Then I asked for the manager’s name and email.
And then the deluge began. All of a sudden there were many people trying to help. A manager requested I email him the picture. And finally we received our winnings.
So what made the difference? Why was a decision based on what one individual wanted (me) different than when it may have gone public? Did face make the difference, as in not wanting to loose it?
What do yo use as the basis for making a decision? Would you change your decision if more people were involved, if it were a public or a private matter?
Tags: brazil, change management, decision making, decisions, learning, private, public, rio quente, united nations
Leave a Reply