ABSTRACT
The best way to counter opponents without appearing aggressive or nasty is to call on one’s allies. There is a golden rule: never respond to an attack as one runs the risk of giving it too much importance or credibility. But nothing forbids one of the allies from doing so. By segmenting the roles in this way, those responsible for a project gain three benefits: the allies can respond on the content and candidly attack the opponent; it gives credibility to the response; and it preserves the image of the project management, who will appear more moderate than the others since they are attacking no one. However, some managers are more interested in swapping punches with opponents than in building a coherent project in the broader general interest.
