The Naked Negotiator

Having written 3 books on negotiation it’s not often I find a book that reframes the way we should look at negotiation.
In Getting More: How You Can Negotiate To Succeed In Work and Life, leading negotiator Stuart Diamond outlines 12 strategies that I combined amount to a fresh way of looking at negotiation.

Here are Diamond’s 12 strategies.

1. Goals Are Paramount: Goals are what you want at the end of the negotiation that you don’t have at the beginning. Many, if not most, people take actions contrary to their goals because they are focused on something else.

2. It’s About Them: You can’t persuade people of anything unless you know the pictures in their heads: their perceptions, sensibilities, needs, how they make commitments, whether they are trustworthy.

3. Make Emotional Payments: The world is irrational. And the mroe important a negotiation is to an individual, the more irrational he or she often becomes.

4. Every Situation Is Different: In a negotiation, there is no one-size-fits-all. Even having the same people on different days in the same negotiation can be a different situation. You must analyze every situation on its own.

5. Incremental Is Best: People often fail because they ask for too much all at once. They take steps that are too big.

6. Trade Things You Value Unequally: All people value things unequally. First find out what each party cares and doesn’t care about, big and small, tangible and intangible, in teh deal or outside the deal, rational and emotional.

7. Find Their Standards: What are their policies, exceptions to policies, precendents, past statements, ways they make decisions? Use these to get more.

8. Be Transparent and Constructive, Not Manipulative: This is one of the biggest differences between Getting More and the conventional wisdom. Don’t decieve people.

9. Always Communicate, State the Obvious, Frame the Vision: Most failed negotiations are cause by bad communication, or none at all.

10. Find the Real Problem and Make It an Opportunity: Few people find or fix the real, underlying problem in negotiations. Ask, “What is really preventing me from meeting my goals?”

11. Embrace Difference: Most people think different is worse, risky, annoying, uncomfortable. But different is actually demonstrably better: more profitable, more creative.

12. Prepare - Make a List and Practice with It: The List is like a pantry, from which you choose items for every meal.

This list however doesn’t do Diamond justice. Read this book then read it again. Highly recommended

Popularity: 12% [?]

In his book Heads Up, How to Anticipate Business Surprises and Seize Opportunities First (HBS Press, 2004) author Kenneth Mcgee, a group vice president at Grartner, the IT research firm, says there are three types of events that occur in the business world: 1. Surprises 2. Opportunities 3. Disasters. The way you respond to events is the key to success. A surprise event by definition captures you unaware. You have failed to monitor or capture it. A suspected event is one where the event is monitored, captured and analysed but is reported too late for effective action. A surmounted event by contrast is one where the event is reported on time and an effective action is taken. In business, event monitoring is a waste of time unless you have the systems in place to monitor it, analyze it, AND take effective action. What are your event monitoring systems like? Do you too often get caught unawares? Or, are you monitoring events so you are in a position to surmount difficulties?

Popularity: 20% [?]

To succeed as a negotiator you have to get inside the mind of your opponent.

But the question is; Does success come primarily from understanding the other side’s viewpoint? Or does it come from establishing deep emotional engagement?

In other words, does it pay to get into your opponent’s head or does it pay to get inside their heart?

The May 3 Economist shows research by Adan Galinsky of Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University has revealed “that it pays to get inside your opponents’ heads rather than hearts”.

First, the researchers defined the two different approaches negotiators used to understand opponents:

1. Perspective-taking

2. Empathy

Negotiators often use these terms interchangeably but they are different.

Perspective taking is the cognitive power to perceive the world from someone else’s viewpoint.

Empathy is the power to connect with others emotionally - to feel the world from their viewpoint.

The simulations using 150 MBA students showed:

1. That the groups who focused on the perspective of the other side were much more likely to strike a better deal - 76% closed their deal.

2. The empathisers, that is those who focused on the other sides feelings were far less successful -only 54% closed their deal.

3. The control group, who simply focused on the own role without regard to the other sides’ perspective or feelings were even less successful - just 39% closed their deal.

Not surprisingly, negotiations when both sides make an effort to understand the perspective of the other side yield the highest joint gains.

But, even with just one negotiator having perspective taking abilities, the odds of a better deal for both sides are good.

In essence, this breakthrough research shows that deal making is about satisfying your opponent’s interests while meeting your own needs. Too much empathy can stand in the way of truly creative deals.

Popularity: 27% [?]

An Aesop Fable on Fairness
Several animals find treasure and must decide how to divide it fairly. The lion speaks up and says, “First, we must carefully divide the treasure into four parts. The first part goes to me, since I am king of the beasts. The second part is mine, owing to my strength. The third part is mine because of my courage. As to the fourth part, anyone who cares to dispute it with me can do so, at his own risk.”

A Bitter Divorce
In 1997 Gary Wendt, the chief executive of GE Capital, divorced his fifty-four-year-old wife of thirty-two years, Lorna Wendt. Gary’s net worth was about $100 million. Lorna wanted a 50-50 split. In court, Gary argued that since it was his talents that accumulated virtually all of the wealth he was entitled to the bulk of the assets. The judge awarded Lorna $20 million. Divorce law in Connecticut calls for equitable not equal distribution of assets.

Principles of Fairness
Our notions of fairness are guided by three, often conflicting principles:

1. The principle of equality says that regardless of contribution, everyone is entitled to an equal share.
2. The principle of equity prescribes that rewards should be based on each person’s contribution.
3. The principle of need prescribes that benefits should be based on need.

Tips and Tactics

• When slicing up the cake, always ask to whom will the recipient(s) compare themselves. People often care more about how their slice compares to others than they do about the absolute size of the pie.

• Make sure the process is seen to be fair and equitable. Commitment to a deal increases when the process is viewed as just and transparent.

• Aim for simplicity, clarity, and justifiability. Perceptions of fairness increase when agreements are simple to follow, deliver clear outcomes and can be easily explained.

• Remember, our egos clash with our notions of fairness. People pay themselves far more than they are willing to pay others for the same job.

Popularity: 36% [?]

The year: 1912. Teddy Roosevelt was nearing the climax of a hard fought presidential campaign. The final push was a whistlestop tour through middle America. At each stop Roosevelt planned to deliver an inspiring address and hand out thousands of pamphlets. On the cover of each pamphlet was an imposing Presidential portrait; inside was a rousing speech. Hopefully, these would win over vital undecided voters.

The final tour was about to begin when a campaign worker noticed a small printed notice on each photo: Moffett Studios - Chicago. The photograph was copyright and no one had obtained a clearance from Moffett.

Unauthorized use of the photo could cost a dollar for each pamphlet distributed. The prospect of a three million dollar bill sent a chill through campaign workers. They simply couldn’t afford it. The pamphlets were a crucial part of the re-election strategy. If they went ahead without Moffett’s permission and were caught out, they’d be branded lawbreakers and be liable for a small fortune.

The campaign workers concluded they had no choice; they had to negotiate with Moffett, and there was no time to lose.

You can imagine how they felt, Moffett seemingly had them over a barrel.

Dejected, they sought campaign manager George Perkins’s help. Perkins immediately instructed his typist to cable Moffett.

“We are planning to distribute many pamphlets with Roosevelt’s picture on the cover. It will be great publicity for the studio whose photograph we use. How much will you pay us to use yours?”

The reply came back soon:

“We’ve never done this before, but under the circumstances, we’d be pleased to offer you $250.”

Legend has it Perkins accepted without asking for more. Perkins understood the power of information; the critical role it plays in shaping a negotiation. By selectively controlling the flow of information to Moffett, Perkins created the illusion that he held the upper hand.

Information power lies at the heart of the bargaining process. In even the simplest of negotiations, both parties take a position, then present facts, arguments, data and other information to support that position. Both sides then use information to get the other side to modify their position until there is enough common ground to reach a mutually satisfactory settlement.

To guard against information being manipulated or concealed, you must do your homework. The more information you have, the more power you have. It’s that simple.

Popularity: 20% [?]