Thread by @DmitryOpines

1/ Thread: Five lessons I drew from Dungeons and Dragons to (hopefully) make me a more effective trade negotiator.

Yes, I really am this nerdy. By all means take my lunch money but please just leave me enough change for the bus to Magic: The Gathering Camp.

2/ Even if you've never played, you've probably at least heard of Dungeons and Dragons (D&D).

It's the game the kids play in @Stranger_Things, the show @CommunityTV did an episode about it, and the wildly popular @CriticalRole webshow is just voice actors playing it.

3/ The game is about creating a story.

One player, the "Dungeon Master (DM)" is the narrator. They are responsible for creating a world full of challenges, foes and intrigue the rest of the players play through with characters of their own creation.

4/ Negotiations Lesson 1: Adversarialnesstacity.

Like a trade negotiation, a D&D game looks at first glance to be adversarial. The players want to achieve something (get the treasure, save the kingdom etc.) and the DM is slapping down monsters, traps and villains to stop them.

5/ It's easy to fall into the trap of thinking the DM and players are foes, just like it's easy to think of the other side's negotiators that way.

Except it's not true.

The DM and the players are in fact working together to create a tense, interesting and challenging adventure.

6/ Similarly in a trade negotiation, the actual objective of both teams is the same: an agreement the governments and citizens of both sides can accept as a good deal.

Letting the optics of a trade negotiation or D&D fool you into thinking adversarially is a trap.

7/ Negotiations Lesson 2: Lateral Thinkiness

What separates Dungeons and Dragons from more traditional board games is that you don't have to think in terms of a rigidly defined set of options (or moves).

You tell the DM what you want to try, and they work it into the story.

8/ You can swing your axe at the goblin, sure. But you can also try and swing the axe into a nearby wall, jump on the handle, swing on to the chandelier and land on the goblin feet first while distracting it with a recitation of epic poetry.

That's the magic of D&D.

9/ When it comes to negotiations, much of the 'art' comes precisely from finding lateral ways around problems where the direct approach isn't working.

It's about identifying the heart of the problem, dissecting it and identifying a way forward.

D&D helps you think this way.

10/ Negotiations Lesson 3: You ain't the only star, bub.

In D&D, the players control characters with unique specializations which make them better suited to certain tasks.

A fighter is at home in the thick of a fight. A wizard is safer in the back hurling fireballs.

11/ Nothing is more frustrating than when a player decides they're the only hero of the saga and shoehorns themselves into the lead on every situation.

It's boring for everyone else, but it's also not terribly effective, as Waldo the frail Wizard insists on arm-wrestling ogres.

12/ The roles in a negotiation are pretty clearly defined too, and the complexity and breadth of what they cover encourage this exact form of specialization.

Your financial services technical lead knows the text and the sector back to front. That's her thing. She's got this.

13/ It can be tempting, especially for more senior officials, to feel their greater experience in negotiations (or government or just life) means they must fix every problem and run every conversation.

It doesn't work.

Trust your rogue to pick the lock, don't just headbutt it.

14/ Negotiation Lesson 4: We're still pals, right?

D&D is about creating a story. Stories can have moments of treachery, heartbreak and anger. Characters will die, say horrible things and lose treasures they worked hard for.

That can strain friendships away from the table.

15/ Separating what happens at the table from real life is critical not only to maintaining real-life relationships (more important than any game, or dare I say it, trade negotiation) but also to successfully playing D&D.

The game just isn't fun without trust and friendliness.

16/ Trade negotiations are much the same way. The person in front of you is the messenger for their country's position. A messenger whose trust and goodwill you will need innumerable times before the agreement is signed.

17/ Yet also like D&D, this doesn't mean the negotiating table in an alternate universe.

The way you behave at the table, the way you carry yourself and interact with others, does have real-life consequences. By all means, stand your ground, but don't be a dong about it.

18/ Negotiations Lesson 5: No one cares, and that's on you.

Dungeons and Dragons is a niche hobby. Most enthusiasts live their lives surrounded by people who don't know much about it, have a pretty skeptical opinion and definitely don't want to hear them go on and on about it.

19/ The D&D community can be wonderful and welcoming, but it's also (like many fandoms) prone to being insular, elitist, misogynistic, full of purity checks and nerd hierarchies

Sometimes the same fans who bemoan the insularity their hobby are the ones scaring new players away.

20/ It's a huge shame, because D&D really can be a wonderful hobby which can enrich and stimulate people's lives.

It's social, creative, collaborative and fun.

Yet when asked to 'sell' it to others many fans falter, waffle about rules, or just refuse.

21/ Like D&D players, trade professionals often despair at how little engagement or interest trade policy and negotiations traditionally receive.

Yet this isn't a call for the public to be more engaged, it's a call for us to be better communicators.

22/ Simply restating how important something is, reading dense statistics or citing legal texts is never going to convince someone to invest time and energy in understanding and engaging with trade policy.

23/ Like explaining D&D, your job as a trade negotiator or policy professional is to make the subject come alive by drawing out its relevance and potential for the specific audience you're addressing.

Examples, stories and anecdotes. Analogies and references.

Make. Them. Care.

24/ Conclusions:

1. Dungeons and Dragons is fun and you should try it.
2. Trade negotiations are important and you should know about them.
3. There are lessons to draw for one in doing the other.
4. I do too have a girlfriend, but she goes to a different school. In Canada.