These are excerpts from the author’s book “Deep,” which contains eight of his small books published in the form of Wisdom Literature covering different aspects of life: Facing troublemakers, dealing with pain, personal financial issues, gastronomy, reading, criticizing, inspiring, and feeling always good to go.

Week 10: Rewarding Your Opponent

• It is not always about winning the current battle; a win-win concept could accommodate a behavior such as a concession of a minor conflict to enhance your chances of winning the next major conflicts.

• Try to think about concession of a minor conflict as a reward given to your opponent, helping him rationalize his loss in an upcoming major conflict.

• In conflicts of interests, and especially when you are clearly the weakest party, try to create interest for your opponents.

• Do not hesitate to offer your opponents preferences that are clearly not going to harm your stance.

• Value your opponents’ smartness and avoid offering fake rewards.

• Enjoying seeing frustration on other people’s faces is petty; do not consider it a victory.

• Accepting your opponent’s rewards helps boost levels of trust. However, do not allow your opponents overestimate their rewards.

• It is a good idea to frequently have a refreshing look outside the conflict arena; that helps discover the motivations of your opponents and inspires you for a fresh restart.

• In conflict management, an avoiding style ignores the problem, hoping it will go away. This is a useful defensive tool; just beware to hold it the right way at the right time.

• During the conflict, you will see only one enemy: your opponent. Other people will look like angels. Actually, they are not, but it is okay to consider them so, at least temporarily.

• Avoid misevaluating or underestimating your peers and opponents just because you do not like them.

• Try to pay high attention to your opponents’ divide-and-conquer tactics. It is important not to lose any of your team members even if you discovered some of their mistakes during the conflict.