In the time of war, heros emerge

I came to learn about The Romance of Three Kingdom when I started playing the computer game that was based on the history of it. In the game (or history, which I only came to know for playing the game), heros emerged during the time of unresting conflicts. Greed and egos drove the lords and their followers to untapped category of talents, and heroes became greater heroes when they were confronted by stronger opponents in battle.

The champions of these fighters on the battle field are very much compared to an elite group of managers in a business negotiation. Managers need to gather information, hypothesize opponent's tactics, take a position, formuate a strategy and then execute it.

And no, it is not experience that matter the most in a negotiation. I would give priority to nutural instincts. It is how you read your opponent, what you do to get more information and use that information. You can get some training, but a great negotiator cannot be taught, but born.

But, there aren't that many great business negotiators in our time as there were great heros at the time of the Three Kingdom. As the consequence of failure is much less dramatic.

If you lose a battle at war, you will likely be killed and get killed when you return to your lord. In business negotiations, the end result is often much less obvious, you could screw up but report that you have done the best deal given the 'circumstance', and what the heck, you even demand a salary raise. And if you do flunk it really bad, you get fired but then you are out of the mess you created. So it ain't too bad and life goes on.

Still, I say we shall stay in business (as oppose to being in the army or a dentist, unless you are a dentist that is cute like a bear, just like my dear friend David). Wars today are different, they are all about 'team' and individualism is no longer praised, so being in business is as close as you will get in making a legend out of yourself.

But negotiation should serve another purpose to the great masters. Ancient emperors would reward and penalize their generals base on outcome of the battle field (think 300), a manager's ability can be very much 'read' in a negotiation. You can really see how one hypothesizes, communicates, bonds with the opponent and strategizes. All in a nutshell.

So, if you ever have to test one's talent, put him at 'war' and just watch.