Reviews of Artful Navigator

THE ARTFUL NAVIGATOR
Version 1.1

Review by Mary & David Dohrmann, 1996
http://www.waking.com

Artful Navigator is a unique and innovative software program designed to be used in conjunction with a recently published book, Piloting Through Chaos: Wise Leadership & Effective Negotiation for the 21st Century, by Julian Gresser. The program offers a thorough yet flexible format for applying and practicing the methodology outlines in the book, and it is useful for decision-making and negotiating at any level, from complex international corporate and government scenarios to those encountered on the level of personal and family relationships. Due to space limitations in this review, certain of the concepts referred to are further defined in the book review (also found on this site) and are greatly elaborated upon in the book.

The conceptual basis for this program, in addition to Gresser's fundamental concept of Integrity, is the Five Rings Methodology. A very interesting concept when first encountered, Five Rings comes to life in the Artful Navigator program, which masterfully bridges the gap between the linear world of the computer and the non-linear qualities required for success in negotiating--qualities such as creativity, intuition, role-modelling, etc. Artful Navigator employs the Five Rings Methodology to assist one in analyzing the flow of decisions, identifying one's strengths and weaknesses, predicting the moves of other players, and planning, tracking and evaluating the flow and expenditure of one's time, effort, money, and creative vitality.

One may be tempted to think, then, that Artful Navigator is simply another project management tool or personal organizer. It is both, and it is much more. Its strength and uniqueness is that it forces one to take into consideration all aspects one's life, not simply the task at hand, the assumption being that whatever one is doing in one area of one's life impacts another area. To this end Artful Navigator requires a look at one's efforts and energies in the Personal, Professional, Physical, and Spiritual areas of life. It also offers an interesting and graphic means for quantifying the expenditure of personal resources, which are referred to as "IBU's" (short for Integrity Budget Units). This aspect of the program assigns relative values to Time, Effort, Money, and Creative Emotion. While monitoring of this sort is necessarily imprecise, we found this structure to be the best we have experienced as a means of tracking the flow of energy towards a given end.

The Five Rings Methodology, when fully understood through the tutoring of this program, thus becomes an indispensable guide for navigation through the most complex negotiations. The program itself employs cleverly-designed Windows interfaces with obvious prompts and plenty of explanation in order to lead one through a process which, while new, becomes familiar in short order.

Of special interest to us, and unique to Artful Navigator, is the "Personal Coach" mode. The Personal Coach employs such devices as: "integrity puzzles," which enhance problem-solving skills; a "Master's Program," which offers a deep library of helpful quotations from experienced "navigators" like Shakespeare, Dickens, Lincoln, and many others; and "Personal Coaches," contemporaries who are studying and mastering the art of successful negotiating in a variety of circumstances. The database is flexible and open, allowing one to contribute data from successful personal or team experience, or to draw on the experiences of others whom one contacts through the Logos Internet network.

There is much, much more to this program than can be described here. Suffice it to say that it stands as the best we have seen in terms of its uniqueness, user-friendliness, depth, and attention to detail. The enjoyment in using it comes from the fact that Artful Navigator doesn't just ask for data and move it around a little--it helps one to organize a wealth of information effectively and to understand how to use it successfully, blending one's own unique resources with the wisdom of those who have gone before. When questions arise, all the help one needs is available either within the program or from the Logos Network support team, which includes program users as well as Logos Network personnel.

For anyone who wishes to improve the odds of successful negotiating, especially when the stakes are high or when one is involved with a complex and not-entirely-familiar player, Artful Navigator is a must. If you want to have a look at it before buying, ask for a demo or download it from the Logos Network web site (see above). Highly recommended!

Mary & David Dohrmann, 1996
http://www.waking.com

See also the Piloting Through Chaos review by the Dohrmanns

Piloting Through Chaos with
The Artful Navigator^(tm)

by Albert Barsocchini, Esq.

Over the last two years, I have had the opportunity to review most of the legal related software currently on the market. None of the software that I have looked at thus far has had the potential to impact profoundly the user as The Artful Navigator^(tm).

The Artful Navigator by Julian Gresser and Tod Brannan is the first software to guide you creatively through the art of negotiation. Whether you are negotiating a small personal injury case or an international agreement, the Artful Navigator will take you through the negotiation process step by step. The software helps you to generate ideas and solutions, track your progress and manage resources during a negotiation. Julian Gresser has also written a book called Piloting Through Chaos: Wise Leadership * Effective Negotiation for the 21st Century (Five Rings Press, 1996) that provides business examples and background information on the art of negotiation.

The negotiation process is divided into five rings with each ring representing a step in the negotiation process. By interacting with the software and using a "personal coach" or selecting a "master" for insight and guidance, you will have the necessary tools to regain your "integrity" and artfully navigate through the most difficult negotiation to a successful conclusion.

After reading the book and acquainting myself with the software, I actually tried the software on a legal matter. One of my clients is a lawyer who had gotten way over is head in a malicious prosecution lawsuit against a large entity and was also being sued for malicious prosecution by a lawyer representing that same entity in a related matter. My client would show up by himself at a hearing and have eight lawyers make an appearance on the other side.

We analyzed his current situation in the context of The Five Rings and came to several conclusions. First, he was way over budget in committing his personal resources. Second, he was spending to much of his available resources on "decoy" lawyers who really were not the real decision makers; and third, he was constantly spending his resources reacting to defense moves on the other side instead of trying to take offensive control of the litigation.

Based on these discoveries facilitated by the Artful Navigator, we decided that he should sit down and realistically budget his available resources and scale back his legal attacks in order to stay within his new budget. It was also necessary that he focus on the so called "pain point" of the other side and flesh out the real decision maker. Finally, he should pause a moment in the ongoing legal skirmishes in order to regain his legal balance and to create uncertainty on the other side by his sudden change in behavior.

I am happy to report that he has now regained his integrity in the context of the litigation and is positioning himself for a negotiated settlement.

The Artful Navigator is the first generation of what I call "personal assistant" software that will intelligently guide you through both the analytical as well as intuitive decision making process of a lawyer.

Book and Software Review

Piloting Through Chaos: Wise Leadership * Effective Negotiation for the 21st Century

The Artful Navigator - Companion Software

If you have ever felt confused and unsure of what step to take next in your personal life or in business dealings with others, Piloting Through Chaos offers a practical method of assistance. The method is called The Five Rings, and it is a combination of Julian Gresser's experience in international negotiations with Japan and other countries, and in the martial arts. It allows you to quickly assess where you are, where you want to be and what you need to do to get there.

What makes this methodology so appealing is that its core value is integrity. Gresser defines "integrity" as the capacity of all living things to maintain their sense of connectedness, coherence, wholeness and creative vitality. By developing our integrity we can better negotiate with others and through life.

Through concrete examples and specific instructions, we are shown how to use The Five Rings. At any point in the process you can evaluate how you are doing and where you are. If you reach a stumbling block you can return to a prior ring and reassess, then proceed again. If we receive a "no" we can take that information and move on. The negotiation never really stops but evolves and changes. Staying in the present is paramount and sometimes it is difficult to do. We all tend to make assumptions and have expectations but these can distract us from the information or situation that is right in front of us. The techniques set forth by Gresser do not just apply to major negotiations, but are applicable to everything we negotiate in our daily lives. The method of The Five Rings takes time and practice but it is presented in a simple, easy reading format.

To assist you in mastering the method is the software The Artful Navigator, which Gresser developed with his partner, computer designer/engineer, Tod Brannan. This IBM compatible computer program allows you to work step by step through The Five Rings. It is very user friendly and contains "coaches" who can be anyone from Shakespeare to Churchill, who can give you pertinent advice on the problems confronting you. The program allows you to assess how much time, effort and creative energy your are using, formulate weekly logs, and track specific negotiations. The advantage of using the software is that you can regularly record your progress and can input details that you might otherwise forget. It is very interactive and fun to use. Gresser and Brannan have done an excellent job in providing the tools to help us navigate through a world that seems to become more chaotic each day.

Reviewed by Jeffrey S. Blanck, Attorney /Assistant Director of the Intuition Network, Sausalito, California.

To ask questions or order products, please contact us by sending E-Mail to Integrity@LogosNet.com