 In this case, meaning that you come up with your brilliant plan, and yet the second you get off the helicopter and the bullets start flying, your plan's just out the window. And to an extent, it's the same way in hostage negotiation. You come up with your brilliant plan, you sit across from the person who's holding your American, and things start getting dicey. You have to keep adapting and flowing with it. But at the end of the day, the other side holds the key to the jail cell.