-A Life of Negotiation
Chapter 5: The Map of the Actor
The mid-20th century was a glorious period for Britain and France,
which were at the top of the world at that time.
Mr. Winston Churchill,
the current Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, did not know due to jealousy or anger,
mocking France with humorous words:
“France is a great country,
I only regret that France has been abandoned by the people.
France closed.”
At that time, the Second World War had just ended,
the warring countries were preparing to rebuild the country
that had been partly reduced to ashes by the war.
The period of economic development as spring returns to Europe.
In Asia,
Japan is among the countries most devastated by war.
Fifty years later,
the world has changed rapidly.
Three generations of mankind have contributed to rebuilding the economy.
However, there are countries that find wealth very quickly,
besides those that move more slowly,
even some countries have to wait
until 30 years later to begin to prosper.
Japan has transformed extremely quickly,
in addition,
the Japanese people have built a sustainable economy in a sustainable society,
with principles and principles of sustainable coexistence.
Why is there a country that moves fast next to many countries that are slower?
Umpteen.
But the main reason is personnel.
The people of each country have different consciousness,
different educational culture,
perhaps also different patriotism,
as well as the will to sacrifice
and the latent constructive spirit.
I want to use these images to emphasize the human element in society.
And also for you to be more aware of the importance
of this factor in the field of negotiation.
The same negotiation,
the same purpose,
held at the same time,
in the same place,
but just changing the personnel involved will lead to quite different results.
This is not surprising,
but extremely important.
Therefore,
I want to bring the human factor to the forefront
for readers’ attention and memory.
Back to the story of Bom and Phu Ong,
try to replace it with Teo or Cun,
and then Phu Ong in that region with Dai Gia in another region,
perhaps the story of Bom will not leave us
with 10 verses precious knife.
Not to mention the anonymous author
who wrote those 10 sentences.
Another author will write differently.
The story of Son Bom
and Phu Ong like that has 3 characters,
not 2 as we might think.
Then, if it comes to the book you are holding in your hand,
the personnel will multiply again,
because there are myself
and the readers who play an indirect role in the story of Mr. Bom,
many centuries after the poem.
Do you find it funny?
No, buddy.
For example,
in this world there are only monkeys and no other animals,
perhaps there will never be negotiations with the conference,
society will climb banana trees to find fruit to eat all day.
If society were just a wide sea of fish and fish,
perhaps underwater people would imagine a peaceful society.
There will be no coercion
and competition like on the mainland,
and of course even the idea of negotiation will not come true.
I say this jokingly
so that you can understand very clearly,
very carefully that when there is a negotiation,
you must study the personnel thoroughly.
Who are the people sitting in front,
next to,
or behind?
How do they think culturally,
how do they reason and react,
what are the hidden meanings in their hearts,
how do they see the interests of the collective,
and how do they evaluate their work as well?
How are their individual interests,
large and small?
How will even their own life experiences,
as well as the life and history lessons bequeathed to their family
and themselves,
affect the outcome of a negotiation?
I have seen many bizarre cases where important negotiations have failed.
For example,
the two heads of the delegation had a feud
or family conflict for a long time.
Or citizens of two countries with historical enmity.
Racial factors, rich and poor,
even religion also have an influence.
Then the people who can go to school,
the people who don’t.
On the contrary,
when the negotiation is at a stalemate,
sometimes just changing the personnel sitting in the negotiation
It can easily remove the difficult buttons.
* * *
A very common case is when two families of the boy’s family
and the girl’s family negotiate about marriage.
We have all witnessed the uproar,
tough debate,
careful consideration,
sometimes even going to hot conflicts in the family,
while two children in love have decided to get married sooner or later.
It’s a tragic comedy.
The groom’s father allowed him to marry,
his mother did not. Grandma said it looked fine,
grandma said not to rush.
The great-grandfather told us to hurry up
so I could see the great-grandson.
The groom’s biological aunt brought back rumors
that the future daughter-in-law was very unfilial.
The younger brother was supportive,
but the younger sister was already jealous
of her future sister-in-law, so she frowned.
All the opinions in the family make sense,
each coming into consideration with its load.
That’s just a discussion on one side of the boy’s family
or the girl’s family.
However, when the two sides met for the first time to touch the door,
new problems were raised.
Come on,
uncle of the old bride
play bad boy’s uncle.
Well, the grandfather on the other side
still owes the grandfather on the other side.
Two younger brothers on both sides often fight at school
and then talk bad about each other.
Come on, the grandmother on one side criticized the other
for being religious…
All those events,
though not directly related to the couple,
must have had an impact.
All of them,
friends,
friends on both sides have more or less voices.
They were both actors in the negotiations
that were about to begin.
They are located on what I call the actor’s map.
Any negotiation is a meeting between people.
Who is a playwright,
who is not?
Preparing for the negotiation is to first map the actors.
Storytelling often occurs
so that the reader better understands the nature of the playwright map.
At a wedding, or in any other negotiation,
the actors outnumber us.
You don’t have to be at the conference table to be influential.
There are characters absent
but the voice still weighs heavily.
All those who have direct influence on the negotiation must be on the actor map,
no character can be forgotten.
When negotiating,
the standard attitude is to find out
who has more influence and less influence.
And when you know what each person wants,
of course it’s easy to know what to avoid and what to do.
Here I would like to emphasize the role of the mediator.
Obviously,
we see that if the negotiation is open to a large number of people,
perhaps an intermediary will not be able to do it.
That is to say,
when an intermediary later tells us
that “they have everyone in their hands”,
we should just believe it.
No one alone can master all the actors in a game.
Mapping actors and middle managers are the two most difficult
and most important parts of negotiation.
In a later chapter
I will talk more about the role of intermediaries.
To return to the actor map,
I will give some examples for the above case as follows.
In 1986-1987 my delegation negotiated in a North African country
about a power plant project.
After many months we think we have reached our destination.
On the investor side,
everyone is very happy to sign the contract.
We are also 100% sure that all opponents have been eliminated.
The funding is also complete,
all procedures are completed.
And our intermediaries report an atmosphere of optimism
from all sides.
As the head of the delegation,
I went to see the General Director of the investor company.
He told me that everything was going well,
no one could win the project that his company decided to give us.
So I firmly grasp the project like a nail.
But I don’t understand why choosing a good date
to sign the contract is always delayed.
Whenever we make an appointment,
the investor side does not reply
or says that the date is not convenient.
It took us 6 months of procrastination to realize
that there was an important person on the other side
that we had accidentally “forgotten”.
We forgot about this character on the drama map!
Once again I went to see the General Manager.
He still happily said that the project was still for us,
no problem,
but at the end of the meeting he quietly reminded me:
“Are you sure to ask everyone’s permission?”.
I was dumbfounded,
for above him there were only two towering rankers.
The intermediary confirmed to me that
both of these towering people are already on the actors map!
Then who else?
We realized there was one more character
that we really didn’t forget,
but didn’t think he had any direct influence on either.
He is the “son of God”.
The constitution of their country is clear as day,
the “son of God” just cut the ribbon to inaugurate.
Only then did I learn a valuable lesson:
although he was completely unharmed in the project
as well as in all projects,
there were many people on the investor side
who were close to him, even his descendants.
Mr., they did not dare to overtake you,
so they refused to allow us to sign the contract.
When I both took the risk
and innocently put the saint mentioned above on the map of the actor,
the next day
I received the order to immediately sign the contract.
That’s it,
a map without characters,
even if it’s a hidden character unexpectedly,
the project is difficult to progress.
Another equally complex example is the merger of our company
with a smaller company.
My friend, when two companies want to get married,
they must also present to “Brother Hai”!
Originally,
my company still had an inherent contract
with the investor who was a state-owned company,
so we thought that merging
with a specialized company would strengthen our position.
Big mistake!
Shortly after this negotiation was published in the press,
the investor cleverly informed us
that this merger was very difficult,
if we continue to move forward,
we will face difficulties in the future,
especially is to get more subsequent contracts.
We immediately terminated our intention to merge.
Friend, when your main client doesn’t like
what you’re negotiating,
you have to deal with it.
Their influence is too great,
your future is in their hands up to 60%,
how can you ignore it!
The lesson for me is very profound.
Must check maintain their company’s contacts,
and then if they can’t get close to their interests,
at least get their “green light”.
If they are happy,
then you can move forward and succeed.
The actor map is a must-do if you want to perfectly
prepare for the upcoming negotiation.
That’s why I often invite the characters on
that “confidential map” to have lunch,
go golfing or vacation.
Not only for the purpose of getting to know them,
but when they are close to them,
they may find out that they themselves are also dominated
by many characters to whom they must obey.
Prepare to negotiate.
The art is to leave no gaps
that could potentially negatively affect your employment.
In general, in life,
not only negotiation,
there are people whenever there is a party.
Whenever there are people,
we have to scrutinize the relationships,
analyze their role in being involved.
As long as one person disagrees,
the big thing is likely to be delayed,
even failed.
The actor map is just a scientific way of working,
defining the personnel involved directly or indirectly,
near or far,
heavy or light.
We don’t have to please everyone,
but their presence must be considered.
Negotiation is not an escape from the general rule.
Handling the smartest,
least expensive way to quickly glide is an art,
and the main part is mapping the actor.
Things to remember
The actor’s map is a list of characters
who have an influence on the outcome of the negotiation,
directly,
indirectly, implicitly or implicitly.
Forgetting or bypassing these characters will cause many unpleasant situations.
When negotiating,
try to handle each character in a way
that makes us happy,
so that they respond in one way or another.
No intermediary is capable of handling the entire map of actors.
