• Get Anything You Want by Allowing Mutual Blackmailability

    edited by Alexander Becker

    What do the concepts of mutual blackmailability, guaranteed mutual destruction or mutually assured destruction, compound interest, and reciprocity have in common?

    Mutually Assured Destruction

    Mutual assured destruction (MAD) is a doctrine of military strategy in which a full-scale use of nuclear weapons by two opposing sides would effectively result in the destruction of both the attacker and the defender. It is based on the theory of deterrence according to which the deployment of strong weapons is essential to threaten the enemy in order to prevent the use of the very same weapons. The strategy is effectively a form of Nash equilibrium, in which both sides are attempting to avoid their worst possible outcome -- nuclear annihilation.

    Intriguing, isn't it? Let's see what we can learn from the application -- or the non-application -- of a strategic doctrine.

    What at first sounds like a hack from the dark side, turns out to be the way it works on either side, day in, day out.

    Compond Self-Interest

    Here's the deal: I tell you my dirty secrets and you tell me yours. Then we ask one another for help on both our ways to the top. That's the power of compound self-interest.

    Compound interest, on one hand, is about interest which is added to the original principal. New interest is then calculated, not only on the principal, but also on the interest that has been added. Compound self-interest, on the other hand, is generated, the more the ties between the participants are strengthened, that is to say, the more they know and can possibly and potentially reveal about each other.

    Mutual Blackmailability

    It's a question of chutzpah: How much does it take to practically invite someone to blackmail you?

    Get to know your business partners beyond business and corporate structures, boundaries, and limitations. Share your weaknesses and you are going to share and enjoy your mutual sucesses even more. For one part bragging, add another part blackmailability -- potential humiliation. Trade as much of the latter as possible -- the more you invest, the more you receive in return -- and get anywhere you ever dreamed to be. And beyond.

    By now, you probably think something along the lines of: Funny, how my personal network, at least the part which bears real fruits, is built on these same, exact principles.... Me too. It's not only a strategic doctrine but it seems to be some kind of unwritten social rule. Everyone protects their investment. By everyone trying to avoid the worst possible outcome, new worlds are built.

    Reciprocity

    The trick is not to threaten with annihilation but instead to actively ask for help. Since rejection is not an option, favors are almost automatically granted and returned -- reciprocity is implicit and guaranteed.

    Here is the golden rule of reciprocity --

    ... thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Leviticus 19:18

    The key ingredient to reciprocity is to make people care about you. How? Have them invest their very reputation. Why would anyone do this? Give them an incentive. Your reputation.

    Now, tell me some more about yourself...

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