Turning Straw Into Steel

Don't let them distract you! Stay focused on the real negotiation issues.

“If anyone can refute me‚ show me I'm making a mistake or looking at things from the wrong perspective‚ I'll gladly change. It's the truth I'm after.”

—Marcus Aurelius

Beware the Straw Man

“Based on our review of the medical reports, we just don’t think your client is going to need that expensive surgery,” said the defense attorney.

“I just can’t understand why you’re taking the outrageous position that my client is not hurt,” replied the plaintiff’s lawyer in disbelief.

Well, now, hang on a second. Is that really what the defense attorney said?

The plaintiff’s lawyer launched a retort implicating a form of the infamous “straw man fallacy.” With this type of claim, which you might recognize from your daily newsfeeds as political-speak de rigueur, one party takes a statement of the other, distorts it to make it easier to counter, and then argues against the distorted statement. The end result is a distraction, which leads to faulty logic and communication, with then leaves the parties with …