Fifty Patterns for Making Sense

 

16. Tit for tat

 

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Assume others will cooperate, be harsh when someone does not, return to cooperation immediately.

 

 

 

   
 

If you always assume others are out to get you, you will soon get the reputation of being difficult to deal with if not hostile.  Your colleagues and clients will avoid you.  If you always assume others are honest and fair in their dealings with you, you will soon be out of business.  The most effective strategy is called Tit for Tat.  There are three principles to Tit for Tat.

1.  Always begin by assuming the other party will cooperate and be honest

2.  If you find you've been cheated or treated unfairly, THE NEXT TIME ONLY respond 'Tit for Tat' by some form of negative reinforcement

3.  Resume cooperating again for all further dealings.

The funny thing about Tit for Tat strategy is that you can only tie a competitor in a single competition, you cannot beat him, and he can beat you.  But against many competitors and over the long haul, you will be beat less than anyone else and come out ahead of any other single competitor.

In other words, Tit for Tat is a 'bad' strategy for a single encounter but the best strategy for the long haul.  The best strategy for the single encounter is lying through your teeth and cheating blind.  You may have guessed, these patterns are designed for the long haul.

 

   
   
 

Time is part of any situational ecology (1).  You rarely deal with a person or a group only once.  To be sure you plan for the long haul, always assume cooperation (17).  Never seek to maximize your winning but always optimize goals (18).

 

   
 

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