The Cuban Affair and a friend

I read these papers with fervent devotion as one would read the revelations of God in a holy book for the very first time.

Few nights have been more satisfying than the one I was fortunate to experience a week ago. It was purposeful, engaging, and life-affirming. These moments that put you in the zone of ‘flourishing’ have to be treasured, and probably understood better to recreate them more frequently. I was just sifting through some documents that preceded a probable nuclear catastrophe.

My final assignment for the Negotiation Course was due in a couple of days. We were to present our analysis on a real-life negotiation drawing parallels from the strategies and tactics learned in the course. We chose to work on the negotiations between the US Government and the Soviet Union during the Cuban Missile Crisis – a negotiation that probably saved humanity. I was first introduced to the affair through the film ‘Thirteen Days.’ The film portrays the decision making in the high offices of the US government during the crisis, closely based on the book ‘Thirteen Days: A Memoir of the Cuban Missile Crisis‘ by Robert Kennedy, who as the Attorney General during the period had a close view and say on what was happening. I’ve rewatched the film more times than any other film, each time drawing lessons in leadership, communication, and decision-making. I’ve also caught with the book. The Cuban Affair was among the reasons why I chose the course on negotiation. Now, it was coming a whole circle. I was going to end the course with an analysis of the crisis.

But it was not the first time I was working the subject. All through the term, I’d been trying to do a write-up on the subject from a negotiation strategy perspective. I read articles and the even the screenplay of the film. But I get did not get too far. Rather, I did not exert myself enough. But now, I had to do it.

I began my research with a benign ‘google search.’ It threw up a bunch of articles on the crisis. I had read many of these earlier, I was looking for something more potent. As I scrolled down, I noticed the National Security Archives link. It contained documents pertaining to the crisis. It was an epiphany. I could now read the exact words that Premier Khrushchev wrote to President Kennedy. I could also read the CIA evaluation of various responses to Soviet Missile build-up in Cuba. The same documents that the Executive Committee for National Security would’ve used to base their decisions on.

I read these papers with fervent devotion as one would read the revelations of God in a holy book for the very first time. For the first time, I experienced the thrill from a first-hand reading of such documents.

Despite my interest in the crisis, it had never occurred to me to look for the real papers.  Now, it has opened up to me a huge area of curious engagement. I will go on frequent online hunts for more such discoveries and this may provide fertile material for books and novels.

.  .  .

A friend messaged me today with a reading he found interesting. We had shared a flat during my Summer internship. He was a student of economics and was interning with a data-driven journalistic firm for the summer. But he had his vision set on the economics of drugs and traveling to unusual places. He rattled off stories on drugs and his econometric modeling on the taxation of robots. We connected instantly due to our wide-ranging interests, especially world travel and cultures. I hardly expected him to be interested when he asked me about the book I was reading, a historic novel on Samarkand. But that set off a long conversation between us. He narrated his travel experience in Kazakhstan and treated me to his photos and videos from the trip. Later, our favorite thing was to figure out and catch up with the international film festivals in the city.

While we parted ways within a month, he kept a tradition of sharing the interesting culture stuff he stumbled upon. A few weeks ago he had sent me some Turkish songs, which I had forgotten about until today. As I listened to those songs today and texted him back, he said that these days he has developed an interest in philosophy and was currently reading The Story of Philosophy by Will Durant. I was happy for his interest in philosophy and told him about my own small introduction to philosophy through The School of Life.

We couldn’t prolong our conversation any longer, it was already 1 AM in the night and I had to attend to my assignment on the Cuban Missile Crisis. I knew that he had an interest in history, so I let him know that I was working on the Cuban Affair and casually asked him if he’d ever watched ‘Thirteen Days.’ He said he had. I wished him good night and shared the link to the National Security Archives on the Cuban Missile Crisis I had discovered, hoping that he’d share the excitement I had for these papers. Yup, he did.

I returned to the historic papers reflecting on what a night it is turning out to be. As we journey through life, we across some wonderful people even if only for a brief month. Such briefness should not let us belittle the potential of these relationships. It was a reminder for me to be open to people all the time and create possibilities for life-affirming relationships.

This is what I’ve been up to

Finding a way out

I’ve been quite a drag over the last couple of weeks. I shall jot down what I’ve been up to during this time. Maybe it’ll help me feel better about them.

Our merger and acquisition classes have begun. M&A is fascinating. For one, there is a lot of drama involved in M&A’s. The period of courtship is often the most interesting phase, and of course, a majority of well-intentioned M&A’s turn sour. We’ve been going over some interesting cases in the healthcare and media space. With every new concept, I look to find a similarity in the dating and relationship domain. It is astonishing to find this closeness. Should there be a ‘break-up fee‘ in romantic relationships too?

My negotiation classes have been going steady. We’ve been foraying into multi-party negotiations. Selling my company to a big form, bagging a massive deal with a critical client, and negotiation salary – some of my accomplishments over the last few negotiation sessions. The roleplays and mock negotiations in every session is exciting. But I’ve begun to doubt the effectiveness of these roleplays.

I was a participant and a firsthand witness of a private protest. It was a live demonstration of organization, negotiation, conflict resolution, and leadership. I was as wrong as I could’ve been on predicting the trajectory of this protest. I have some enduring lessons to take forward. In fact, this event will be among my greatest learning moments at b-school.

I’ve finally completed the two books I started a few weeks earlier –  What they teach you at Harvard Business School and How Stella Saved The Farm. The later was a wonderful little management parable about innovation, leadership, organization, and change management.

We have been working on a marketing strategy simulation this term. We run a beauty product firm with a few brands. We are tasked with launching and positioning brands, determining the pricing, the promotion, and the distribution, while also investing in research and development for future launches. We did quite poorly in the first half of the simulation due to poor positioning and spreading resources thinly across too many brands. Last night, we made some amends.

I’ve also been working on a sourcing strategy for a ferrochrome producer in India, as part of a corporate competition. Too much reading about mining leases, chromite ore, and South Africa.

Catch up soon.

Day 88: Negotiation lessons, ebullient professor, and a presidential campaign

Art of negotiation

We had our first session of the course ‘Skills and Strategies for Successful Negotiation.’ I’m not sure if I’ve had a more ebullient professor. Her high spiritedness was apparent on her slides too.

We started off with an instance from the times of Theodore Roosevelt, I once read a few pages of his huge biography, I know him as to have led a vigorous life, and I understand that he has written books on a wide variety of subjects. Even some biology, I believe.

We now had a case that pertained to one of Theodore Roosevelt’s presidential campaign. The campaign run into a serious problem when the campaign realized that they had printed three million copies of a pamphlet with Roosevelt’s picture but had not secured copyright from the studio that owned it. They figured out that they’d be liable for one dollar for every picture, and that the studio was unlikely to case a benign attitude towards it.

So how should the campaign manager tackle this situation?

The campaign manager sent the following to the studio:

“We are planning to distribute millions of pamphlets with Roosevelt’s picture on the cover. It will be great publicity for the studio whose photograph we use. How much will you pay us to use yours? Respond immediately.”

The studio replied that they’d be willing to pay USD 250.

The trick is to have it crop it up as an opportunity.

Read more about the Roosevelt negotiation problem here:

1. Have it crop up as an opportunity
2. Negotiating with a bad BATNA

Later, we had a two-member negotiation activity based on a real-estate property for sale. I got the role of the seller. My interlocutor (buyer’s role) was a good friend of mine. I did not expect a that I’d fair well in the negotiation. But surprisingly I did quite well.

I’d like to reflect on the journey of the negotiation, but due to the paucity of time, I’ll just draw lessons as to why I may have got a good deal.

Why did I get a good deal?

1. I set a high target for myself and completely believed that the property was worth its highest value.
2. I set a higher initial anchor.
3. Looking back, I realize that I inadvertently projected my real estate as an opportunity for the buyer.

Later, we discussed BATNA, RV, ZOPA and a few other negotiation strategies in the debriefing session. I’ll come back and write more on this.

Day 51: Rediscovering the American continent with Walmart and learning to self-negotiate

Retail tour

Mexico, Canada, Brazil, Argentina. We were tracing the international journies of Walmart in our international business strategy class.

First, one goes to the places closest to one’s home. And also, cheapest on the pocket.

With the cost of labor many times lower than that in the US, and other advantages like cheap real estate, low competition, and a sizeable population, Mexico was the first choice of entry for Walmart. It entered Mexico through a joint venture with Cifra, Mexico’s leading domestic retailer, and then later acquired a majority stake in the business.

While it made mistakes in the beginning (providing US-like large parking spaces while, in Mexico, most customers came on the bus), it quickly learned to adapt to the local conditions.

The nature of the industry or the market you’re in is a major determinant of country entry strategy. The organized retail industry is a high volume low margin industry with a high initial investment, acquisitions are a great opportunity to scale up fast without the undergoing the time necessary to build the infrastructure needed for physical retail.

A strategy must be both internally and externally consistent for it to be a success. This is true for individual lives as well.

Walmart’s internal competitive advantages of tight logistics and well-oiled supplier partnerships were in sync with its external positioning of being ‘everyday low price.’

Soon it entered Canada, again through the acquisition route by acquiring Woolco stores run by the Woolworth Corporation. It did well here too.

Next, it was Brazil and Argentina. Departing from the tested entry modes, Walmart entered Brazil through Greenfield route, by opening its own stores. Ditto in Argentina. But quickly, learning from its mistakes, Walmart unveiled acquisitions in Brazil. Despite this, Walmart is not finding it easy to make money in Brazil and Argentina.

Travel Lessons from Walmart: If you have a friend in the country you plan to visit, who has been living there for a long time, it is easier to have a good time there, and the risks are much lower. Going to a new country on your own may not pan out as you want it to.

.  .  .

In the evening, I did some research on the airline industry in India. As I’d mentioned earlier, I had grown a certain fondness for this industry and wanted to explore it. I was with my friend who is an aviation industry enthusiast. I learned at least one thing I was ignorant about: Bilateral service agreements. These agreements between countries decide the capacity of air passenger flow between any two countries that are air-connected.

.  .  .

Every individual goes through negotiations and conflicts in life. As a team member, as an employee, as a child, as a parent. If nothing, you will at least face conflicts with yourself and you may have to negotiate with yourself.

I was sitting through the brief on the Negotiation course that was offered in the coming semester. We had these briefs by the respective professors so that we can make an informed decision on our courses. I had not given a thought to self-negotiation until today. But now, I believe, of all the negotiations we may have, the ones we have with ourselves are the most important.

Here are a few reads on self-negotiation:

1. Mastering the Art of Self-negotiation
2. Negotiation with Myself