You need to be the smartest person in the room to get even smarter people than you to work for you.
Category: Uncategorized
Who has the most strategic thinking?
If I were asked who possesses the most strategic thinking among those I know or have heard of, I would say: ‘fate’, or ‘destiny’.
Young people, elderly, and time
Young people have to live in a rat race: there’s always something to do, and everything must be done on time, under time pressure. But the elderly have no need to hurry: they have everything ahead of them – eternity awaits them.
Human element
Surprisingly, there is always a human element creeping into the relationship between people.
Gift vs bribe
One of the distinctions between a gift and a bribe is that the giver of a gift cares about the recipient, whereas the giver of a bribe cares about himself.
Place of the main argument in the article: two approaches
I have repeatedly noticed a significant difference in the style of academic and student writing in the social sciences and humanities between the English-language writing traditions and the traditions of the former Soviet Union, which largely persist in many of the independent states that formerly made up the USSR.
In the English-writing tradition, great importance is attached to the clear and precise formulation of the main argument at the very beginning of the work. This argument is then developed and defended throughout the text. While in the traditions of the former Soviet Union, due attention is often not paid to this aspect: authors often come to the main idea only at the end of the work, based on the material presented. Roughly speaking, in one tradition the work begins with the identification of a key argument, and in another tradition this argument is revealed at the end.
According to my observations, one of the reasons for the difficulties in publishing articles by our scholars in leading English-language academic journals lies precisely in this difference in approaches. Reputable English-language journals will most likely not consider articles that do not briefly and clearly formulate the author’s main argument from the outset. Or, if the material is very good, they may advise the author to present the key argument at the very beginning of the article.
AI and conflict resolution
The cause of many conflicts is the inability of people, groups, organizations, and countries to correctly assess and anticipate their own actions, as well as the intentions and actions of their opponents. Another important reason is the inability to find the optimal solution to the conflict among all possible options. In this regard, AI has great potential to help the parties properly calculate the possible steps of the parties involved and find the best options for resolving conflicts.
However, it can be assumed that even when everyone uses AI for negotiations and conflict resolution, there will still be some significant problems in this area. For example, one side may use a more advanced AI system (although the parties may agree that they will use one system, some – the stronger players – may not actually do this). Some parties may not have effective AI systems, or their AI assistant may be quite weak. And, in the end, people with their emotions and attitudes may simply not accept the AI’s suggestions, even if they are quite reasonable.
So, people probably won’t just give AI the lead role in conflict resolution. At least in the foreseeable future.
Master
There is a word that delights me: Master. A master, regardless of the type of activity, is a phenomenon that cannot leave a person indifferent. True mastery, be it the skill of a pianist or a shoemaker, admires and even shocks. A person must give himself/herself completely to become a master of his/her craft. It’s a hard way. But a path that leads to self-actualization, joy, and freedom.
Hybrid negotiations in diplomacy
The emergence of public and then digital diplomacy marks important milestones in the development of international diplomacy. Modern diplomacy has become much more public, and this is largely due to the media and social media. We can also talk about a greater democratization of modern diplomacy, as public opinion has become more important in it.
The digitalization of diplomacy and the widespread use of social networks, instant messengers, video communications, and other electronic devices by diplomats have led to certain changes in the exercise of diplomatic influence and the conduct of diplomatic communications and negotiations. In general, all of these are, of course, positive and, in many ways, irreversible trends. At the same time, another truth becomes clear: no public means or digital technology can replace traditional face-to-face diplomatic negotiations. There are diplomatic negotiations in which public attention or publicity only hinders the achievement of a good agreement, and in negotiations via digital technologies, the parties often lack mutual trust.
In short, we can expect that in the future, diplomatic negotiations will be increasingly hybrid, that is, using both traditional and new, digital forms. Diplomacy will develop, but at the same time, it will maintain some of its basic properties.
Greeting as Micro-Diplomacy or Coordinated Social Engagement
One of the chapters of my latest book “Diplomacy for Professionals and Everyone” (Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2022) is devoted to greetings. Chapter 9 is called: “Greeting as Micro-diplomacy or Coordinated Social Engagement”. In it, I discuss the connection between diplomacy and greeting and say that greeting has always played an important role not only in human communication in general but also in diplomatic practice. I considered greeting as an act of diplomacy and analyzed greeting interactions and symbolism in diplomatic ceremonies. Thus, different forms of the visit of heads of state or government to another country such as state, official, or working visits, involve different welcoming ceremonies for the guest. The entire state visit of the head of state to another country, which usually involves various ceremonies of greeting, can be considered as one large and extended greeting of the guest in a host country. In short, greeting occupies a vital place in international diplomatic intercourse.
In my book, a special place is given to the handshake – the most common visual symbol of diplomacy. This makes sense: a cordial handshake represents an act of goodwill and marks positive engagement and dialogical interaction. Many people judge the state of relations between countries or organizations by the peculiarities of their leaders’ handshakes. However, in a broad sense, it is not just a handshake as such, but a greeting does matter. Greeting represents a microcosm of diplomacy.
The chapter also approached greeting in the context of strategic interaction, the game of strategy, coordination game, and relationship management.
Here are the titles of the subchapters of this chapter.
Greetings, COVID-19 and Human Engagement.
Greeting as an Act of Diplomacy.
Greeting as an Interactional Instrument of Relationship Management.
Greeting as a Meaningful Social Exchange.
Greeting as a Strategic Interaction and Coordination Game.
The Relationship Payoff Matrix in a Greeting Negotiation.
Getting to Yes in Greeting, or Social Diplomacy of Greeting.
By the way, on the cover of my book, there is an image of a diplomat extending her hand to greet.
I hope readers will find this chapter of my book interesting and useful.
https://brill.com/display/title/62469
