Beware of Irrational Behavior. There is No Defense Against It.

Yes, it does happen. People can be totally irrational. Against their own best self-interests and those of the deal, unwilling to compromise or do business, people act irrationally. It does happen, we just witnessed such a meltdown. Such irrational behavior is steeped in emotion and comes from pure ego. This behavior is impossible to deal with… rationally. There are no predictable, reliable, dependable strategies—offensive or defensive—against an irrational being. It is like negotiating with a suicide bomber. What’s the point?

There is no place for this in BUSINESS dispute resolution but it pops its ugly head up more frequently than one would ever imagine. It typically ends in disaster and frequently ends in legal proceedings. Unfortunately, this results in a situation with winners and losers; frequently the lawyers are the winners and the litigants are the losers, both of them, as irrational behavior produces bad results. Litigants end up being the losers as nothing is ever gained from irrational dispute.

Nonetheless, people act on their emotion and ego and in their minds, victory is all that counts. When this happens, the best advice I can give is to execute a rapid and orderly retreat. Find an exit and withdraw, otherwise all that will be gained is a huge legal bill and no sound resolution. It will be a war of attrition, and no one ever wins those.

It no longer is a case of Right vs. Wrong, it is a case of Ego vs. Ego. This is irrational behavior and no one ever wins this battle other than the lawyers.

Retreat is a valuable option and a viable strategy. Live to fight another day. Live to fight only honorable and righteous battles, battles worthy of fighting for.

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