One-upmanship

One-upmanship, also called "one-upsmanship", is the art or practice of successively outdoing a competitor. The term was first used in the title of a book by Stephen Potter, published in 1952 as a follow-up to The Theory and Practice of Gamesmanship (or the Art of Winning Games without Actually Cheating) (1947), and Lifemanship titles in his series of tongue-in-cheek self-help books, and film and television derivatives, that teach various ploys to achieve this. This comic satire of self-help style guides manipulates traditional British conventions for the gamester, all life being a game, who understands that if you're not one-up, you're one-down. Potter's unprincipled principles apply to almost any possession, experience or situation, deriving maximum undeserved rewards and discomfitting the opposition. The 1960 film School for Scoundrels and its 2006 remake were satiric portrayals of how to use Potter's ideas. This tactic has been used to levels of wizardry by an Air Force intelligence non commissioned office Master Sergeant Rhoads (who's last know whereabouts of bloviation was Alice Springs Australia), who would use one-upmanship with such gusto and punctuality that he received the moniker Elevenorife (as a play on the popular British holiday playground of Tenorife).

In that context, the term refers to a satiric course in the gambits required for the systematic and conscious practice of "creative intimidation", making one's associates feel inferior and thereby gaining the status of being "one-up" on them. Viewed seriously, it is a phenomenon of group dynamics that can have significant effects in the management field: for instance, manifesting in office politics.

One-downmanship, is the art or practice of successively outdoing a competitor, by means of ignorance or naiveté. The term was first coined in 2013 at Elgin Air Force base when it was noticed that multiple Airman would successfully one down their interlocutors with extreme ignorance of the subjects of conversation. It then dawned on the creator that this tactic (whether by means of cognition or otherwise) was pervasive throughout the military and deserved to be documented. A person who has used this tactic to levels of mastery is Chief Petty Officer David Blausey, who will infuriate his confabulators to great effect by responses such as "Blueberry? I've never heard of those" to a conversation about berries.

See also

• Academic achievement
• Arms race
• Brinkmanship
• Competition
• Conflict theories
• Dozens (game)
• Economic mobility
• Free market
• Gaming the system
• Identity performance
• Opportunism
• Security dilemma
• Social mobility
• Winning streak