Snow Job

The snow job tactic occurs when negotiators overwhelm the other party with so much information that he or she has trouble determining which facts are real or important and which are included merely as distractions. Governments use this tactic frequently when releasing information publicly. Rather than answering a question briefly, they release thousands of pages of documents from hearings and transcripts that may or may not contain the information that the other party is seeking. Another example of the snow job is the use of highly technical language to hide a simple answer to a question asked by a nonexpert. Any group of professionals – such as engineers, lawyers, or computer network administrators – can use this tactic to overwhelm (“snow”) the other party with information and technical language so that the nonexperts cannot make sense of the answer. Frequently, in order not to be embarrassed by asking “obvious” questions, the recipient of the snow job will simply nod his or her head and passively agree with the other party’s analysis or statements. Ironically, the snow job may backfire because providing nondiagnostic information in a negotiation interferes with the ability of negotiators to concentrate on what is important in order to reach agreements.

Negotiators trying to counter a snow job tactic can choose one of several alternative responses. First, they should not be afraid to ask questions until they receive an answer they understand. Second, if the matter under discussion is in fact highly technical, then negotiators may suggest that technical experts get together to discuss the technical issues. Finally, negotiators should listen carefully to the other party and identify consistent and inconsistent information. Probing for further information after identifying a piece of inconsistent information can work to undermine the effectiveness of the snow job. For example, if one piece of incorrect or inconsistent information is discovered in the complete snow job package, the negotiator can question the accuracy of the whole presentation (e.g., “Because point X was incorrect, how can I be sure that the rest is accurate?”). Again, strong preparation is very important for defending effectively against the snow job tactic.