Technique refers to a specific method, move, or procedure applied to accomplish something. In self-help and professional development, techniques are typically presented as learnable steps that produce better outcomes – learn, do this, get a result.
Techniques have a place in handling collaboration and conflict – at the problem level, where they are the proper tool. But they can’t help at the system level, where collaboration and conflict actually live. And even at the problem level, technique without judgment is insufficient. Judgment is what tells you which technique applies, when, why, and what to do when it doesn’t work as expected. Most technique advice leaves that out.
It’s interesting to note the technique comes from the Greek technē, which assumed mastery of an endeavor which technique served. Modern usage inverts that, promising technique as a shortcut to mastery rather than an expression of it.
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