Talking to Tenants

As I developed a skill in delivering training, I was encouraged to read ‘The Games People Play’ (1964) by Eric Berne. This is one of the few books that I have returned to repeatedly and one of the few I have lent or given to people several times with the promise ‘it will change your life!’ It offers an amazing insight into human interactions and relationships. Berne suggests that instead of playing ‘zero sum’ games (with a clear winner), people prefer to play transactional games, from which both participants get some psychological validation. Berne explains that there are three ego states: the parent, the adult and child and highlights some classic games such as ‘Now I’ve Got You’ and ‘See What You Made Me Do’ that we play through our lives. It highlighted how much manipulation features in our daily lives, the importance of adult to adult communication and sparked an interest in human behaviour for me.