400 final
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LDSR 400 Managing Conflict
Lecture #9
Negotiation – Pt. 3
Professor R. Williams
Getting to yes
Unless otherwise stated, all material from this lecture are curated from the textbook, Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In (2011).
Fisher, R., Ury, W.L. & Patton, B. (2011). Getting to yes: Negotiating agreement without giving in. New York, NY: Penguin Group USA, Inc.
Principle #1: Separate people from problems
Review
So what do we do?
To find your way through the jungle of people problems, it is useful to think in terms of three basic categories:
Perception
Emotion
Communication
Principle #2: interests over positions
Focus on interests, not positions
“Interests define the problem – the basic problem in a negotiation lies not in conflicting positions, but in the conflict between each side’s needs, desires, concerns and fears.”
“Interests motivate people; they are the silent movers behind the positions. Your position is something you have decided upon. Your interests are what cause you decide.”
For Example: Egypt-Israel & the Sinai Peninsula (pg. 43)
This works for two reasons:
First, for every interests there usually exists several possible positions that could satisfy it.
Second, behind opposed positions lie many more interests than conflicting ones.
Too many times we tend to assume that because the other side’s positions are opposed to ours, their interests must also be opposed. This is not necessarily true.
But how do we identify those interests?
Behind opposed positions lie shared and compatible interests, as well as conflicting ones.
Ask “why?”
One basic technique is to put yourself in their shoes. Examine each position they take, and ask yourself “why?””
Ask “why not?”
Think about their choice – 1) identify the basic decisions those on the other side that they probably see you asking them for, and 2) then to ask yourself why they have not made that decision.”
Realize that each side has multiple interests
In almost every negotiation each side will have many interests, not just one.
“A common error is diagnosing a negotiation situation with multiple parties is to assume that each person on the other side has the same interests. That may not be the case.”
The most powerful interests are basic human interests
https://www.danmartell.com/hierarchy-of-entrepreneurial-needs/
Make your interests come alive
Make a list: To sort out the various interests of each side, it helps to write them down as they occur to you.
Talking about interests: The purpose of negotiating is to serve your interests. The chance of that happening increases when you communicate them to others.
It is your job to have the other side understand how important and legitimate your interests are:
Don’t use vague generalities or opinion.
“As long as you do not seem to imply that the other side’s interests are unimportant or illegitimate, you can afford to take a strong stance in setting forth the seriousness of your concerns.”
You can say, “without taking away from the seriousness of your concerns…”
But don’t dismiss theirs
Each of us tends to be so concerned with his or her own interests that we pay too little attention to the interests of others.
In addition to demonstrating that you have understood their interests, it helps to acknowledge that their interests are part of the overall problem you are trying to solve.
Say something explicit like, “what you are sharing is also important to me.”
Remember, acknowledgement doesn’t signify agreement or consent.
Look forward, not backwards
Instead of looking at the past, continue to look to the future.
Be concrete but flexible – in a negotiation you want to know where you are going and yet be open to fresh ideas.
To keep your flexibility, treat each options you formulate as simply illustrative (as a possible solution). Think in terms of more than one option that meets your interests.
Be hard on the problem, soft on the people – you can be just as hard in talking about your interests as any negotiator can be in talking about their position.
What do you Think
Where are you going out tonight.
Where will you go?
What could their interests be?
One has the position of a movie
One has the position of dinner
#3 - Invent options for mutual gain
Refining your skill at inventing options is one of the most useful assets a negotiator can have.
As valuable as it is to have many options, people involved in a negotiation rarely sense a need for them.
In a dispute, people usually believe that they know the right answer.
In most negotiations there are four major obstacles that inhibit the inventing of an abundance of options:
Premature judgement
Searching for the single answer
The assumption of a fixed pie (win/lose)
Thinking that “solving their problem is their problem”
Premature judgement & the single answer
1. Premature judgement – nothing is so harmful to inventing as a critical sense waiting to pounce on the drawbacks of any new idea. Judgement hinders imagination.
2. Searching for the single answer – if the first impediment to creative thinking is premature criticism, the second premature closure.
Fallacy of the fixed pie
3. The assumptions of a fixed pie – a third explanation for why there may be so few good options on the table is that each side sees the situation as essentially either/or – either I get what I want or you do. (Win/lose)
Whose job is it to solve the problem?
4. Thinking that “solving their problem is their problem” – you need to develop a solution that also appeals to the self-interest of the other.
Short-sighted self-concern thus leads a negotiator to develop only partisan (biased) positions, partisan (biased) arguments, and one-sided solutions.
So what’s the solution?
To invent creative options you will need to:
Separate the act of inventing options from the act of judging them.
Broaden the options on the table rather than look for a single answer.
Search for mutual gains.
Invent ways of making their decisions easy.
#1. Separate inventing from deciding
Since judgement hinders imagination, separate the creative act from the critical one; separate the process of thinking up possible decisions from the process of selecting among them. Invent first, decide later.
#2. Broaden your options
Even with the best of intentions, participants in a brainstorming session are likely to operate on the assumption that they are really looking for the one best answer.
Look through the eyes of different experts – another way to generate multiple options is to examine your problems from the perspective of different professions and disciplines.
#3. look for mutual gain
The third major block to creative problem-solving lies in the assumption of a fixed pie: the less for you, the more for me. Rarely if ever is this assumptions true.
Identify shared interests – inventing an idea that meets shared interests is good for you and good for them.
Dovetail (or align) differing interests – differences can lead us to the solutions.
Differences in interests, in beliefs, in the value placed on time, in forecasts for the future and in aversion to risk are all possible areas of difference.
#3. look for mutual gain
Ask for their preferences.
One way to dovetail interests is to invent several options all equally acceptable to you and ask the other side which one they prefer. You want to know what is preferable, not necessarily what is acceptable.
Look for items that are of low cost to you and high benefit to them, and vice versa.
#4. Make their decision easy
Make their decision easy – rather than make things difficult for the other side, you want to confront them with a choice that is as painless as possible.
Know what they want, know their interests, be committed to being a principled negotiator.
What do you Think
Where are you going out tonight.
Your interests are fun and affordable
What options are available?
#4 - Insist on using objective criteria
Insist on using objective criteria
Deciding on the basis of will is costly .
If trying to settle differences of interest based on will has such high costs, the solution is to negotiate on some basis independent of the will of either side – that is, based on objective criteria.
Commit yourself to reaching a solution based on principle not pressure.
Concentrate on the merits of the problem, not on the mettle (strength) of the parties (people).
Be open to reason but closed to threats. “It is far easier to deal with people when both of you are discussing objective standards for settling a problem instead of trying to force each other to back down.”
Developing objective criteria #1 Fair standards
1. Fair standards – you will usually find more than one objective criterion available as a basis for agreement.
Market value
Precedent
Scientific judgement
Professional standards
Efficiency
Costs
Court
Moral standards
Equal treatment
Tradition, etc.
Developing objective criteria #2 Fair procedures
2. Fair procedures – to produce an outcome independent of will, you can use either fair standards for the substantive question, or fair procedures for resolving conflicting interests.
“Letting someone else play a key role in a joint decision is a well-established procedure with almost infinite variations.”
Using objective criteria 3 points to remember
1. Frame each issue as a joint search for objective criteria.
Ask what they think a fair criteria or process for decisions would be.
Reason and be open to reason – what makes the negotiation a joint search is that, however much you may have prepared various objective criteria, you come to the table with an open mind.
Using objective criteria 3 points to remember
2. Insisting that an agreement be based on objective criteria does not mean that insisting that it be based solely on the criteria you advance.
Using objective criteria 3 points to remember
3. Never yield to pressure. Pressure can take many forms: a bribe, a threat, a manipulative appeal to trust, or a simple refusal to budge.
In all these cases, the principled response is the same: invite them to state their reasoning, suggest objective criteria you think apply. Never yield to pressure, only principle.
What do you Think
Where are you going out tonight.
Their interests are fun and affordable
How will you decide?
For next class
Review today’s slides.
Finish reading the text.
Reflection Paper #3 Due
