game-theory-tit-for-tat

Tit for Tat in workplace conflicts means starting with cooperation, addressing each defection directly once, then forgiving and returning to cooperation. For example, address a missed deadline explicitly, set expectations, and drop the issue once the coworker commits to improvement.

Tit for Tat is a repeated-game strategy that cooperates first, then mirrors the opponent's previous move. It won Axelrod's tournaments by being nice, retaliatory, forgiving, and clear, achieving the best mutual outcomes over repeated interactions.

Generous Tit for Tat fits noisy environments where actions are easily misperceived. It randomly forgives about 10% of defections to break accidental retaliation spirals caused by misunderstandings, while standard TFT works in low-noise settings.

Tit for Tat is designed for repeated interactions and loses effectiveness in one-shot games. Without a shadow of the future, defection incentives dominate, so single-transaction negotiations require different strategies.

Defection cycles start when one side misperceives a cooperative move as defection, triggering alternating retaliation. The fix is to communicate intent before retaliating, unilaterally cooperate once to break the spiral, or use Generous TFT.