English 202D

Alfie Kohn essay, “No-Win Situation” exponent the idea that when adding win/lose activities to games, sports and the work environment it weakens self-esteem blocks us from achieving our best and “poisons relationships.” He begins the essay with an example from his childhood; remembering the game of musical chairs, and explains how in the end of the game there is only one winner, and during a period of time all the other kids are left watching from the sidelines, depressed. He continues to state “This is how we learn to have a good time in America.” Kohn explains that instead of having winners and losers and making people compete against each other to the point were the only way to win is to make your opponent fail; instead he advocates that turning the opponents into partners playing to beat the game or for a common good would change the entire concept of winners and losers. “Terry Orlick, a sports psychologist at the University of Ottawa” organized an experiment with musical chairs by changing the goal and keeping “the basic format of removing chairs.” By doing so the point of the game, became to fit all the kids in the chairs remaining and thus taking out the idea of competition and winners and losers. This way everyone is a winner and everyone is playing to achieve a common good. Kohn goes on to say “recreation at its best does not require people to triumph over others. Quite to the contrary.” Kohn points out that “some people point to the