I our organization / school (Jun Bee Kwan, WHGF), we have three defined ideal principles of which we try to adhere to when doing most of what we do when it comes to hapki type, or "soft", techniques (Hapkido also incorporates techniques that can be seen as more "hard" and direct).
Ryu, or flow.
Often referred to as "the water principle", ryu is to not meet force straight on, but instead moving ourself in way that blends with the force of our opponent, and lets it flow by without hurting us. This is somewhat analogous to the Japanese principle of tai sabaki.
Won, or circular motion.
Circular motion refers to various types of movements using centrifugal and centripetal force to disperse, add to, and/or redirect the energy of our opponents attack. It allows for simultaneous defense and offense, and for using the force an opponent puts into an attack against him.
Wha, or harmony.
Somewhat simplified, wha can be translated as harmony, and can be described as successfully using won and ryu together in order to blend with the opponents energy, adding ones own energy, and using the combined energy for our own purposes. We can then use the combined energy to turn his attack into various attacks such as a throw, a joint-destruction, redirecting our opponent into a wall or other parts of our surroundings, or something else
A basic and ideal example of how this could be done, is in one of the ways we meet an opponent who is swinging some kind of club at us. Instead of blocking the strike, which is essentially meeting force with force, we move into the attack at an angle (removing ourself from the path of the club), then we redirect the force of our opponent in a way that, combined with our own body placement and the force we add to his trough circular motion, turns his attack into throwing him.