BASE jumping involves jumping from Buildings, Antennae, Spans (bridges) and Earth (cliffs) with a single parachute.
It’s pretty insane stuff! Do these people have a death wish?
To most of us, BASE jumpers – and their extreme sport cousins like big wave surfers, waterfall kayakers and free climbers – just seem like reckless daredevils.
However, Dr Eric Brymer, a psychologist who specialises in performance in extreme contexts, suggests otherwise. He says that extreme sports are far safer than many regular activities, like motorbike riding, because the risks are so closely examined.
Brymer tells us that extreme adventurers spend most of their time training for when things go wrong. Big wave surfers will run along the bottom of the surf holding rocks so they can train for when they get it wrong and the surf is hammering them. BASE jumpers will undertake meticulous preparation for a jump and only proceed if every variable is within limits.
According to Brymer’s research, those who engage in extreme sports are anything but irresponsible risk-takers with a death wish. On the contrary, they are highly trained individuals who have worked hard to hone their skills and minimise the chance of misadventure.
So, what can negotiators learn from BASE jumpers and other extreme adventurers?
Just as BASE jumpers train and test their capabilities in safe simulations, so negotiators should identify the damaging things that could happen and prepare their responses.
This is an under-valued tool in a negotiator’s toolkit. If you can work out how you’ll react when things go wrong, you will be prepared when they do. Better still, work out what the absolute worst thing is that the other party could say to you and then role-play your response until you can deliver it without a flood of emotion.
BASE jumpers claim they have an enhanced capacity to see every nook and cranny of the ground below even though they are travelling at more than 300 kms/hour. Imagine if training for disaster gave negotiators the skill to see every nuance of an interaction unfold in slow motion, allowing them to respond with pre-prepared interventions. I’d call that extreme negotiating.