I have been studying, practicing and teaching martial arts for over twenty-five years. This includes time spent in the United States Army and living in Japan and Korea studying martial arts there. Two important concepts that I have studied, taught, and written about in a martial or military format are equally important when teaching negotiation. These concepts are strategy and tactics. Sometimes I see people mistakenly use one term when they are actually referring to the other. In this short article, I want to describe the differences between strategy and tactics, as well as illustrate the relationship between the two.
Strategy
The strategy is the general, general plan, which includes objectives or desired results. In the military, strategy is the utilization, both during peace and war, or of all the forces of a nation, through large-scale and far-reaching planning and development, to ensure security or safety. victory. Another definition would be a plan, method, or series of maneuvers or stratagems to obtain a specific objective or result. A well known strategy used by the Allies in World War II was strategic bombing in Europe. The Army Air Corps’ strategic bombing doctrine was based on the theory that a bombing force could beat an adversary to the point of destroying its industrial base and, with it, its ability and will to wage war. While this example helps to illustrate the concept of strategy, it is unfortunate that many of us have probably come across negotiators who worked from very similar strategic doctrine.
Strategic negotiation is simply the act of devising and carrying out a well thought out plan to achieve the desired results. Often your plan is to convince another party to give you something you want and on your terms. The first thing to determine when developing a trading strategy is what do you really want? What is the purpose of the negotiation? Do you want to buy a house or commercial building? Do you want an increase in your salary? Do you want to resolve a matter that is being litigated? Once you know what you want and have designed a strategy, you can implement the tactics that will help you achieve your desired result.
When you’re developing a strategy, it’s often easier to break your planning into phases. Here’s a simple model for use with martial arts and warfare that you’ll notice fits equally well with negotiation:
1. Identify your strategic objectives
2. Gather intelligence
3. Plan for the environment
4. Participation program
Tactic
Tactics are simply the means by which you carry out your strategy. In military tactics it is about the use and deployment of troops in real combat, more specifically, it is the military science that deals with ensuring the objectives set by the strategy, especially the technique of deploying and directing troops, ships and aircraft in effective maneuvers. against an enemy. In our earlier example with the Army Air Corps, the tight formations employed by bombers to make the best use of the bombers’ heavy weaponry and to prevent German fighters from breaking away and bunching up into lone planes is an example of a tactic used. to help carry out the strategy. Another tactic was the employment of high-altitude bombing when low-altitude bombing proved vulnerable to anti-aircraft fire.
Great care must be taken not to focus on activity, means, or tactics at the expense of achievement, goal achievement, or desired results. Above all, the achievement of one’s own objectives in the negotiations must be paramount. Of course, the tactics, activities or means we use must always be appropriate and ethical, but we must remember that they are simply the ways to achieve the desired results. Examples of negotiation tactics include things like:
1. Give an ultimatum
2. Nibble
3. Looks of astonishment or surprise
4. Good Cop/Bad Cop
5. walk away
There are many tactics that people use when negotiating. There is nothing wrong with using certain tactics to carry out your strategy and achieve your goals. It is not necessarily unethical, deceptive or unscrupulous to use negotiation tactics, although some may want you to believe it. Yes, some tactics can be unethical, and as I said above, we should always be appropriate and ethical, but there is nothing wrong with being competitive.
No, I haven’t forgotten the Principled Negotiating strategy taught by Fisher and Ury in “Getting To Yes.” However, I also realize that sometimes we will be in competitive negotiations, and knowing various tactics can give us an advantage. As a lawyer, I realize that some clients hire a lawyer to be their pit bull, and while win-win may be the ideal, some of these clients only care about a win in their column. Practically speaking, lawyers must deliver for our clients if we want to stay in business. In other fields of business, you also encounter competitive haggling, and knowing the tactics can be very beneficial. Additionally, knowing various negotiation tactics, and counterattacks, prepares us for when others use them against us.
conclusion
Strategy and tactics are concepts as old as the conflict itself. By understanding the differences and relationships between the two, the successful negotiator can better plan and implement the strategies and tactics to achieve the specific desired results. There’s a reason so many successful businessmen study old military classics like “The Art of War” and “The Book of Five Rings.” There’s a reason so many successful businessmen play strategic military games like Go and Chess. Lessons learned from military sources, especially strategy and tactics, can be easily adapted to help us become better businessmen, better litigators, and better negotiators.
