Business News
The Negotiation Ninja
The first step on the road to becoming a 'Negotiation Ninja' is understanding that in any situation, you are dealing with people.
Despite what we might like to believe, people are not logical. We make the majority of our decisions with our heart, emotionally. We also have egos that impact our thought process and often take positions that we believe to be right and defend them.
If you criticise someone else’s positions, it will ultimately be seen as a criticism of them personally, regardless of whether you meant it in that way.
In these types of situations, a negotiation can rapidly turn into something resembling a war zone, with both sides battling for victory.
The first tip in any negotiation situation is to avoid defending or attacking other positions. Instead, focus on the interests behind these positions. Seek to understand them and then present your case.
As Stephen Cove states in his insightful book you all should read, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, you should:
“Seek first to understand and then to be understood.”
The story of The Two Sisters
In negotiation workshops, people often refer to the story of ‘The Two Sisters’ as an example of understanding interests, rather than positions.
The story goes that it is Sunday, the shops are shut, and both sisters want an orange, but there is only one left.
Rather than argue about who should have the orange, they decide to cut it in half.
One sister takes her half and uses the peel to bake a cake, throwing away the fruit.
The other eats the fruit and throws away the peel.
Had the sisters taken the time to find out what the other person wanted from the orange, they both could have had everything they asked for.
Of course, this is just a story isn’t it? Real life negotiations aren’t that simple? Right?
Well actually, yes, they are! In many negotiation situations, we tend to assume that we are looking for shared interests in the deal, however it can often be the differences that allow the deal to move forward.
Consider someone selling some shares in an arm’s length, unforced transaction. If both parties agree that the price will increase or decrease, then there would likely be no sale. Trading only occurs because one party believes that the shares will fall in value, whilst the other party believes they will rise in value.
This brings us to the second tip – never accept arbitrary demands or valuations.
Instead, seek independent criteria that can be used to help create an attractive deal for both sides.
So, everyone wins!
