Contributing to the Wine Festival

Last week I conducted a two-day workshop that brought together four groups with differing views about a work matter. The topic was unrelated to open source, cybersecurity, or development technologies -- areas I'm most familiar with. Rather I was asked to run the workshop because I don't know much about the topic and am not impacted by the outcomes. I served as the neutral moderator/facilitator. My role was to create a space of open inquiry and exploration to see if each could consider options they didn't take. Perhaps there were ways to improve the overall outcomes. Honestly, I was concerned about how to make this happen successfully.

Each participating group had two motivations. They could defend their previous decisions and remain quiet. Or they could lean into the shared agenda to explore the possibilities, even if that meant admitting there was a better way. The former is easier, yet would undermine the two-day investment in the workshop. The latter requires everyone to be on board or the workshop will feel coercive. In game theory, this maps to a pattern called the Prisoner's Dilemma where participants often take the less optimal approach resulting in the worst outcomes because they don't trust the other participants enough to coordinate and achieve the optimal outcome. What does this have to do with wine?

I started the event with a childhood story calling attention to the dilemma. Over the course of the event, I recalled a few of these stories worth sharing. These childhood stories made a lasting impression on me. I shared this one to kick off the event, encouraging the participants to bring themselves fully to the workshop. It worked. Here's the story.

The mayor of Chelmar asked the Council of the Wise for advice. This was a particularly difficult year for the residents. The mayor wanted to bring the citizens together in harmony.  And so, the Council of the Wise convened one of their famous meetings to discuss the matter.

Asher, the wealthiest council member proposed they hold a festival the day after tomorrow. “Let it flow with wine.” He said. “Wine gladdens the heart and brings people together.”

Zelig, the poorest member protested. “Wine is expensive. We don’t have the budget for this. Who will pay?”

Mindel always had the best ideas. She said that we can run this like a potluck. “We’ll ask everyone to bring one bottle of wine.” Zelig asked, “But how fancy must the wine be?” And Asher assured him that we will only ask each person to bring the best wine they can afford, and no more. 

“This idea won’t achieve the goal,” said Zelig. “The wealthy will bring expensive wine, the poor will bring cheap wine. Everyone will know. And some of us will be ashamed. It will just highlight the division we have in society. It won’t fix it.”

The council thought some more. Mindel rose to her feet with a brilliant solution.

“We will collect everyone’s wine and pour it into a large barrel. The blend will be a contribution from every citizen, rich and poor. The result will truly represent us all together. No one will be embarrassed. We will have plenty and much of it will be very good.” The Council of the Wise members nodded in agreement. They were indeed the wisest. 

The next day Asher went to his cellar to fetch his finest wine. But he realized the large barrel would have so much cheap wine that it was a shame to ruin his finest wine for a blend. Who would notice if he brought something cheaper?

Zelig had a similar thought but realized he had hardly any wine worth drinking and was too embarrassed to show up empty-handed. After all, he was a council member and approved the festival’s program. He emptied the remains of a vinegary wine into the sink and washed out the bottle. No would would notice if he diluted the town blend with a little bit of water. 

The next day, the mayor conducted the opening ceremonies, welcomed everyone to the festival, and thanked the Council of the Wise for bringing everyone together in the spirit of harmony. “Let the wine flow and our spirits be lifted.” He said as he raised his cup to the barrel, opened the spigot, and out came pure, clear water. Everyone brought water.

All the townspeople looked at each other in embarrassment. They all tried to fool each other and only failed themselves. And then they all burst out in laughter and enjoyed the rest of the festival. The festival brought them together as the Council of the Wise said it would. 

I shared this story because I asked each participant to bring something to the workshop so they could all take something from it. Everyone from Asher to Zelig can justify why bringing water is okay and would go unnoticed. But there’s also an incentive to bring wine. After all, why hold a festival for water?