Never Split the Difference

“As you try to insert the tools of tactical empathy into your daily life, I encourage you to think of them as extensions of natural human interactions, and not artificial conversational tricks. In any interaction it pleases us to feel that the other side is listening and acknowledging our situation, whether you are negotiating a business deal or simply chatting to the person at the supermarket butcher counter, creating an empathetic relationship and encouraging your counterpart to expand on that situation is the basis of healthy human interaction. These tools, then, are nothing less than emotional best practices that help you cure the pervasive ineptitude that marks our most critical conversations in life. They will help you connect and create more meaningful and warm relationships. That they might help you extract what you want is a bonus. Human connection is the first goal.”