Today I will be going over the concept of competition, enemies, and partnerships. This post will be continued on Saturday. [Read part 2 here]

This is the fourth post out of twelve as I read through the book “Ben Franklin’s 12 Rules of Management” by Blaine McCormick. As I go through the chapters I will be extracting information that I find interesting or useful.

In this chapter of the book we are shown that Influence is more important than victory. The underlying idea is that it is more important to create working relationships than it is to be a cut-throat competitor. More than one person or company can win, and creating trust is always win-win.

Tit-for-Tat
We are shown four rules that governed a simple game for navigating treacherous social situations. The game was called Tit-for-Tat and was programmed to follow four simple rules.

1) Never be the first to pick a fight.
2) Be retaliatory when it is necessary.
3) Be forgiving when asked.
4) Be completely clear about your intentions.

This little model is very straightforward and will work in most business situations. The company must not attack anyone. The company must punish those who attack them. The company must forgive others when they are asked. Lastly the company must be clear about their intentions, which is probably to maximize profits.

Understanding the Socratic Method
In case you aren’t familiar with the Socratic Method, it is basically using questioning to undermine another person’s argument. After a series of questions the person with the original statement will believe they have found their flaw by themselves and therefore won’t be upset at the person asking the questions.

[continued]