After travelling the world Leonie ended up in Taiwan. Her funds were depleted and even a bed in the cheapest youth hostel was a challenge. She had to survive, and the only way to do this was to live within the local Chinese communities. Leonie stayed in Taiwan for several years teaching English as a second language. She learnt how to speak, read and write Mandarin. The key realisation for Leonie was that in Chinese communities most transactions are negotiable. Chinese people negotiate constantly over the prices of food, services, rent, traffic fines, visas, study fees and so on.
Here the business speaker shares with us the secret underlying Chinese negotiation skills.
Know there is a game being played
The rules of the Chinese negotiation game are laid out in the 36 Chinese Strategies which are derived from “The Art of War”. Most Chinese people know and will unconsciously use these strategies in everyday life. To begin to understand this game I read the The Art of War, and like many people I did not immediately understand the relevance this ancient wisdom had in the contemporary business world.
I compare the The Art of War 36 Chinese Strategies to Western idioms such as ‘don’t cry over spilt milk.’ Just like Western idioms, the 36 Chinese Strategies are learnt from families and friends, and are a fundamental part of Chinese culture.
Learn the rules of the game
An example of one of the 36 Chinese Strategies is:
‘Murder with a Borrowed Knife’ – 借刀杀人 – This strategy is all about preserving your own strength by getting others to help you achieve your goals. For example: In a business negotiation the most senior person will not raise questions such as “Can you reduce the price?” The person who will ask this question will be someone of a lower status; therefore the person holding the highest status is preserving his/her own strength.
When Chinese business people negotiate they bring this wealth of knowledge making them formidable negotiation opponents. They have a framework to think about negotiation. It is unlikely that a Western sports person would go onto a field before a sporting match with limited understanding of the rules, however when negotiating Western business people do this all of the time.
Play your own game
This ancient Chinese wisdom encapsulates the 36 Chinese Strategies and can be used by Western business people as a framework to understand strategic negotiation. These strategies can be used in any negotiating situation. They can be used in leadership situations because leaders need to be good negotiators. Leaders need to position themselves to maximise opportunities and they often have to negotiate with people over whom they have little authority. Having a broad ranging strategic approach to negotiation gives you confidence, because you learn tactics and other ways of thinking about negotiation.
