Found whilst looking for a screenshot solution – isn’t the web great?

from: Screenshots: How a deal is done

Jack, a smart businessman, talks to his son.

Jack: I want you to marry a girl of my choice
Son : “I will choose my own bride!”
Jack: “But the girl is Bill Gates’s daughter.”
Son : “Well, in that case…”

Next Jack approaches Bill Gates.

Jack: “I have a husband for your daughter.”
Bill Gates: “But my daughter is too young to marry!”
Jack: “But this young man is a vice-president of the World Bank.”
Bill Gates: “Ah, in that case…”

Finally Jack goes to see the president of the World Bank.

Jack: “I have a young man to be recommended as a vice-president.”
President: “But I already have more vice-presidents than I need!”
Jack: “But this young man is Bill Gates’s son-in-law.”
President: “Ah, in that case…”

This is how business is done!!

Is there a name for a deal structure like this? One which puts three partners together in a mutually beneficial arrangement. Without all three elements there is no deal but put them together and it works. There seems to be a lateral shift of thinking going on here – a sort of eureka moment. But can this type of thinking be encouraged in some way?