The Book of Real-World Negotiations

Successful Strategies From Business, Government, and Daily Life

Joshua N. Weiss

• Editorial: Wiley
• Año: 2020
• ISBN:
  9781119616221
• Edición: 1
• Categoría: Desarrollo personal
• Categoría: Negociación

Real world negotiation examples and strategies from one of the most highly respected authorities in the field

This unique book can help you change your approach to negotiation by learning key strategies and techniques from actual cases. Through hard to find real world examples you will learn exactly how to effectively and productively negotiate. The Book of Real World Negotiations: Successful Strategies from Business, Government and Daily Life shines a light on real world negotiation examples and cases, rather than discussing hypothetical scenarios.It reveals what is possible through preparation, persistence, creativity, and taking a strategic approach to your negotiations.Many of us enter negotiations with skepticism and without understanding how to truly negotiate well. Because we lack knowledge and confidence, we may abandon the negotiating process prematurely or agree to deals that leave value on the table.

The Book of Real World Negotiations will change that once and for all by immersing you in these real world scenarios. As a result, you'll be better able to grasp the true power of negotiation to deal with some of the most difficult problems you face or to put together the best deals possible.This book also shares critical insights and lessons for instructors and students of negotiation, especially since negotiation is now being taught in virtually all law schools, many business schools, and in the field of conflict resolution.Whether you're a student, instructor, or anyone who wants to negotiate successfully, you'll be able to carefully examine real world negotiation situations that will show you how to achieve your objectives in the most challenging of circumstances.The cases are organized by realms—domestic business cases, international business cases, governmental cases and cases that occur in daily life. From these cases you will learn more about:

• Exactly how to achieve Win-Win outcomes
• The critical role of underlying interests
• The kind of thinking that goes into generating creative options
• How to consider your and the other negotiator's Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement (BATNA)
• Negotiating successfully in the face of power
• Achieving success when negotiating cross-culturally

Once you come to understand through these cases that negotiation is the art of the possible, you'll stop saying "a solution is impossible." With the knowledge and self-assurance you gain from this book, you'll roll up your sleeves and keep negotiating until you reach a mutually satisfactory outcome!

1
Mistakes Negotiators Make, and What Do Great Negotiators Do Anyway?

Learning to be an effective negotiator is a journey, not a destination. Along that journey you will encounter many notions about what effective negotiation looks like. Certain truisms about negotiation have come to the forefront as a result of the mistakes that people make. Similarly, with all the information out there and centuries of practice, we can also delineate what great negotiators do to solve some of the most difficult problems confronting humanity. Let's take a look at both of these before delving more deeply into the case studies.

Skepticism toward Negotiation, and Common but Inaccurate Myths

While we all negotiate regularly at work, at home, and in the world around us, negotiation still sometimes gets a bad name. Furthermore, there are some commonly held fictions related to negotiation that often lead people astray and away from creating the best deals or solutions possible. Below are the most common misperceptions of negotiation that are important to dispel from the outset.

A Winner and a Loser – and Nobody Wants to Lose

The first inaccurate belief about negotiation can be encapsulated in the memorable short story from Dr. Seuss, called “The Zax.” To summarize the well-known tale, there once were a North-Going Zax and a South-Going Zax whose paths met. Neither Zax was prepared to move in deference to the other. They were both stubborn and prepared to stay where they were instead of giving the appearance, real or otherwise, that they would be the one to acquiesce to the other. The more they stood face to face, the more they tied their ego to their positions. They became entrenched. As the years came and went, so did progress, with highways and bridges built around them, and neither willing to budge. Alas, they spent the vast majority of their lives standing across from each other – both losing out.

Among the many lessons from this negotiation story is the belief that someone has to win and someone has to lose in a negotiation and neither party will budge if they are going to be the loser. This win-lose way of thinking leads people to conceive of negotiation from this vantage point – thereby limiting the negotiator's thoughts on what might be possible. This mindset often results in negotiators becoming ensconced in their positions – just like the two Zax. Stated differently, if a negotiator enters with this mindset then they will inevitably end up only looking for solutions that fit this type of outcome. While there are certainly some negotiations that may ultimately end up with a winner and loser to varying degrees, this misnomer pushes people to focus their attention in the wrong place and miss possible opportunities.

In addition, if a negotiator approaches their processes with this win-lose mindset, what impact does that have when they have to negotiate with the same people over and over again? Of course, they could always play the game of “I will win this time and next time it is your turn,” but that approach is both illogical and produces poor agreements that leave value on the table and potentially creative solutions unexplored.

The False Promise of Compromise

The second mistaken – but commonly held – belief about negotiation is that the process hinges on a negotiator compromising something really important to them to get a deal done. Recall the famous story of King Solomon and the baby. One day two women came to King Solomon, and one of them said:

• “Your Majesty, this woman and I live in the same house. Not long ago my baby was born at home, and three days later her baby was born. Nobody else was there with us.
• “One night while we were all asleep, she rolled over on her baby, and he died. Then while I was still asleep, she got up and took my son out of my bed. She put him in her bed, then she put her dead baby next to me.
• “In the morning when I got up to feed my son, I saw that he was dead. But when I looked at him in the light, I knew he wasn't my son.”
• “No!” the other woman shouted. “He was your son. My baby is alive!”
• “The dead baby is yours,” the first woman yelled. “Mine is alive!”
• They argued back and forth in front of Solomon, until finally he said, “Both of you say this live baby is yours. Someone bring me a sword.”
• A sword was brought, and Solomon ordered, “Cut the baby in half! That way each of you can have part of him.”
• “Please don't kill my son,” the baby's mother screamed. “Your Majesty, I love him very much, but give him to her. Just don't kill him.”
• The other woman shouted, “Go ahead and cut him in half. Then neither of us will have the baby.”
• Solomon said, “Don't kill the baby.” Then he pointed to the first woman, “She is his real mother. Give the baby to her.”
• Everyone in Israel was amazed when they heard how Solomon had made his decision. They realized that God had given him wisdom to judge fairly.¹

King Solomon's example thankfully did not end in a gruesome compromise, but many negotiations do end up with a badly conceived compromise based on poor decision making. Many negotiators believe they must give up something of significant value to reach a deal. This belief is why many people dislike negotiating or feel anxiety during the process.

Frankly, while compromises might be needed from time to time, they certainly are not what effective negotiation is all about. It can be argued that compromising is a lazy approach to negotiation. Compromises usually happen when a negotiation becomes tense or a difficult issue remains elusive. The idea is to split the difference – with both being a little unhappy – so the parties can move forward.

So what do you do if you don't compromise? You resist the urge and dig into the issue in a deeper fashion. What that means is taking a creative approach where you explore all the underlying interests and sources of value that exist. When negotiators take this later approach, they often find they need not compromise because those interests and needs can be met in a multitude of ways. If, after exhausting all other avenues, they are left with no other option than to compromise, they can do so with confidence.

Misnomers about Manipulation and Deception

The third popularly held erroneous notion about negotiation is that it requires manipulation and deception. The thinking goes that when a negotiator finds something that creates discomfort in the other negotiator, they seek to exploit it. This view is all about taking advantage of the other negotiator. This approach also views the other negotiator as an adversary and treats them in that fashion.

The issue of manipulation and deception is another significant reason why so many people find negotiation disquieting. A series of studies have been conducted about comfort level and negotiation. One study in particular, from LinkedIn in 2012, found that only 40% of men and 26% of women were comfortable negotiating.² For people to become comfortable negotiating, they need to learn to let this conception of negotiation go and to realize that successful negotiation does not involve these deceptive tactics. In fact, it is really the opposite – building relationships and finding creative solutions – that make effective negotiation possible.

The Strong Don't Negotiate

The fourth fallacious customary perception of negotiation is that it is for the weak. Strong people coerce others to do things, not persuade them. We often hear phrases such as “We don't negotiate wit...