Aracruz?

Much like everyone else, I have spent a fair amount of time this week reflecting on our Aracruz simulation. After thinking about this more and more, I'm not sure that I agree that my team learned much about how to compromise and come to an agreement in high stakes situations. I'm not saying that I think that this exercise was without merit, however. I believe it gave us a fascinating view of the cultural dynamics within our own classroom.

The opposing goals of the Aracruz stakeholders were spelled out clearly in our informational packets, but I found that our real-life values and goals shined through much more strongly. We were told to reach a signed compromise by the end of the simulation. At some point in our discussions, focused shifted from "coming to a legitimate compromise that would solve the problems" to "how do we get something signed so we can make a good grade in this class"? I don't feel that 100% of the people in my group felt that way, but I know that I certainly did! It was very interesting to see some of us let our stakeholder values acquiesce and let our student values take over.