In a salary negotiation, don't just ask for more money. Imagine the moment the contract is signed. What did you have to offer to make the boss feel they won? Work backward from that "win-win" feeling to structure your initial request. 2. Identify the Nash Equilibrium
A "Zero-Sum" game is one where my gain is exactly equal to your loss (like Poker). Most of life, however, is . Out-think! : how to use game theory to outsmart...
Stop looking for the "best" move in a vacuum. Instead, ask: "Given what my opponent is likely to do, what is my best response?" If everyone is doing the same thing, you’ve found the equilibrium. To outsmart them, you must find a way to change the "rules" of the game so that the equilibrium shifts in your favor. In a salary negotiation, don't just ask for more money
Imagine the final stage of your negotiation or project. What is the last possible move? Once you know how the "endgame" looks, you can determine what the second-to-last move must be to get there, and so on, all the way back to the present. Work backward from that "win-win" feeling to structure
In games like Rock-Paper-Scissors or Tennis, if you always do the same thing, you become predictable. Predictability is the death of strategy.
To outsmart someone, you must "signal" your intentions through actions that have a cost. This is called Signaling . If you take an action that would be too expensive or risky if you were lying, people will believe you are telling the truth.
A company offering a 10-year warranty is signaling high product quality. A low-quality competitor couldn't afford to do that, making the signal credible and outsmarting the competition's marketing. The Bottom Line