Hughes Krupica: Information as a weapon

Information v the truth

Perhaps amazingly, I have participated in committees which, at their very core, are supposed to herald the virtues of globally resolving disputes, and yet certain participants (fortunately not the majority) are clearly some of the worst culprits of dispute instigators and information abuse I have met thus far, at my still-learning period of middle age.

In professional practice, I also often see minutes of board meetings, shareholder meetings, committee meetings and ad hoc communications which tell a sorry tale of hostility and misunderstanding. When analysing these circumstances deeply, it becomes apparent that at the heart of the issues is a construct or mis-construct of information. I am being deliberately careful to separate information from the word ‘truth’. Many people’s version of truth is mixed up in their cognitive bias, and I have met people who have studied cognitive bias who appear to be extreme in their opinions, make snap knee-jerk judgements and have blinded themselves with the assumption that having studied bias, they are somehow free of it. Information ignorance is also, of course, dangerous even if inadvertent.

Information abuser information strategies

Bad actors will typically to try to acquire information first, in order to exploit the first-mover advantage. If they can’t obtain the information first they will attack the presenter of the information as soon as possible post-presentation. They will then strategise with other bad actors how to present or re-present the information, and will then employ a move or series of moves for self-interested gain. To counter these strategies, good-faith actors can also obtain information, share the source transparently, ensure its presentation is valid and endorsed, and highlight the absence of exploitative gain to inspire confidence and trust in the recipients. This is the classic information symmetry v. asymmetry issue, which actually governs most issues in life, including stock market prediction and investor behaviour as well as close family relationships and friendships. This issue can be mitigated by a combination of strategies.

Committees lend themselves to traditional problems of hierarchy, group coordination problems illustrated by Nash Equilibrium and Prisoner’s Dilemma conundrums, and dysfunctionality due to non-cooperative participants, apathy, passive or active hostility. Committee structures may also encourage status competitions through self-interest, which then separates the objective of the ‘Committee (Principal)’ from the ‘Committee Members (Agents)’. This separation of interests is a classic agency issue.

Potential countermeasures to information abusers

There are strategies that may be employed to address these:

• Keep all committee members well informed, but obtain good information first to avoid information ‘debates’ prior to validation and circulation.
• Identify the bad actors in the committee and avoid entering into contrived hostility designed to undermine authority. React calmly and logically to challenges, tell the truth, and let other committee members see, recognize and respect the mature rational approach.
• If a bad actor makes a good point, commend them for it. Avoid pettiness. Never sink to a lower level than you generally operate and if you do rise back up quickly. Place any knee jerk emails in your trash folder and empty the bin regularly.
• If you lead a Committee, balance your leadership with allowing negative energy to ‘play out’. If an argument develops, observe it, allow the energy to dissipate, and subsequently make decisions or moves for the greater good.
• Empathise with the information abusers even if you personally dislike them. Information abusers may have been abused themselves, they may suffer deep personal insecurity, they may have personal problems and may be undergoing deep stress, which is manifesting itself even on a long-term basis in their behaviour. Humanise people, remember they are people, give deep discounts, be as kind as you can even if others are not, and your virtue will be observed by others who are information enlightened.
• Keep a record of decisions, information provided, its source to validate quality, and where necessary (without over-administration), record responses. Data is easier to manage with technological tracking systems. For example, if each time you send an email, an information abuser attempts to attack, undermine or deconstruct the information, the frequency and origin of the attack can now easily be monitored, tracked and presented to an information abuser and in any dispute resolution process.
• To preserve your own sense of mental wellbeing, stay as fit and healthy as you are able within your own physical and mental limitations; remember the relative value of matters outside of a committee that you care about, so that you can cope with the challenges that inevitably will arise. If any matter ever crosses a boundary into a long term or too acute impact on your wellbeing or family life, extract yourself from the situation. However, don’t quit if that isn’t the case!
• Make sure the bad actors become, as much as they are able to recognize beyond cognitive bias and empathetic blindness, aware of your resolve and qualities.

Contextualising information abuse & committees in the wider problems of society

Committees are an inherent and wide-ranging part of society. Adopting a wide view of committees, we can see them in the public/governmental sectors making life-changing decisions about health, education, finance and regulation of society. In the private sector, committees may govern business, charity, or an interplay between public and private sector participants and stakeholders.

When a committee is taken over or attacked by information abusers, the ramifications for society can be unfortunately far more damaging than the information abuser intended, or perhaps just as intended. Information abusers can spread lies and manipulate information about religion, the extent of discrimination, plant nationalism in a bed of superficial displays of loyalty to their ‘nations’ actually underpinned by hate, greed and selfishness. Committees can be formed formally or informally through loose networks and information abusers to persecute Jews, Muslims, Christians, Buddhists, atheists, persons of different gender, persons of colour and persons who are white, different orientation or socio-economic backgrounds, minorities, majorities, Democrats, Republicans, lawmakers, lawyers, foreigners, immigrants, expatriates, visitors, children, vulnerable people, conservatives, liberals, elites and the poor. The list is obviously non-exhaustive. Information abusers creating committees, sub-committees or information abuse webs are fundamentally undermining peace. Merchants of peace must do all they can to eliminate and resolve unrest and promote harmony.

Next time you find yourself on a committee, do your best, remember some of these strategies, formulate your own and try to conduct yourself with a mindset of exemplary behaviour in the face of adversity and information abusers; be kind and remember that disputes avoided represent a hidden ‘saving’ in the operations of society.

Law cannot be viewed in isolation from sociology, science, politics and other studies and real life situations.

By Desmond Hughes, Senior Partner of Hughes Krupica.
Hughes Krupica is a law firm which specialises in Dispute Resolution; Corporate Transnational and Domestic Law; Real Estate; Hospitality; Construction Contract Support; Transnational Structuring and Compliance; Transnational Commercial; and Litigation, operating in Bangkok and Phuket, servicing clients in relation to their business activities in Thailand and in other regions of Asia