Chapter 3.

Principled Negotiation
Principled Negotiation
 Stages of Principled Negotiation
• Analysis
• Planning
• Discussion
 Separate People from Problem
• Negotiators are people
first
• Negotiator interested
in:
1. Substance
2. Relationship
• Positions become
entangled with the
relationship
 Solving People Problems
• Perceptions
1. Conflict exists in people’s heads
2. Put yourself in their shoes
3. Don’t deduce intentions from your
fears
4. Don’t blame them for your problem
5. Discuss each other’s perceptions
6. Act inconsistently with their
perceptions
7. Give them a stake in the outcome
8. Face-saving
 Solving People Problems
• Emotions
1. Recognize your and their emotions
• Write down emotions and what you wish they were
2. Make emotions explicit/acknowledge as
legitimate
3. Allow other side to let off steam
4. Don’t react to emotional outbursts
5. Use symbolic gestures
 Solving People Problems
• 3 Problems in Communication
1. Parties are not talking to each other
2. Not hearing the other side
3. Misunderstanding
– Solutions to Problems
1. Speak to be understood
2. Speak about yourself, not them
3. Speak for a purpose
 Solving People Problems
• Prevention works best
1. Build a working relationship
– Arrive early, stick around afterwards
– Try to get to know other party
2. Face the problem, not the people
– Two sailors in a lifeboat
 Focus on Interests, Not Problems

• Two men arguing over an open window in

the public library
1. I want fresh air
2. I don’t want a draft
• Solution - Open window in adjoining room
 Focus on Interests, Not Problems
• Interests define the problem
1. Needs
2. Desires
3. Concerns
4. Fears
• Interests are the silent movers behind
positions.
 Why Does Reconciling Interests Resolve
Conflicts?
• For every interest, there likely exists several
possibilities to meet the interest
• For every opposed position, there likely are
many more interests than just the conflicting
interests
 Example: You rent a house
• What are you interests?

• What are the landlord’s interests?

• Is there common ground?

 How do you identify interests?
• Ask “Why?”
1. Ask yourself that question
2. Perhaps ask the other side
• Ask “Why Not?”
1. What is the other side expecting me to ask?
2. Why won’t they give me what I want?
 How do you identify interests?
• Realize each side has multiple interests
• The most powerful interests are basic human
interests
1. Peace/well-being/safety
2. Security
3. Recognition
4. Economic well-being
 How do you identify interests?
• Make a list
1. You may re-write your description of various
interests as you learn more about them
2. Order them by importance, and be flexible to
re-order them as you learn more about them
 How do you identify interests?
• Acknowledge their interests
• This gives opening to ask about other
possible interests
• Put the problem before your answer
1. Construction company example.
2. Your interests first/conclusions last
 How do you identify interests?
• Look forward, not back
• Rather than ask about what happened yesterday, ask,
“Who should do what tomorrow?”
• Be concrete, but flexible - illustrative flexibility
• Be hard on the problem, soft on people
• Support & Attack - cognitive dissonance. Support
people equal to attacking problem
 Invent Options for Mutual Gain

• Expand the pie - create new options

 Obstacles that inhibit creating options

• Premature Judgment
• Searching for the single answer
• Assuming there is a fixed pie., Viewed as
fixed or zero-sum game
• Thinking solving their problem is their
problem
 Prescription for inventing options
• Separate inventing from deciding
1. Brainstorming session with friends
• Don’t criticize
• Don’t evaluate
• Find most promising solutions
• Improve on other good ideas
• Finalize list and evaluate
2. Consider brainstorming with other side
 Look for Mutual Gain
• Not a fixed pie of solutions
• Identify shared interests
1. Latent in every negotiation
2. Opportunities/not godsends
3. Stressing interests makes negotiations smoother
• Dovetailing differing interests
• Ask for their preferences
• Low cost to me - high cost to them
 Make their decision an easy one
• Whose shoes - who do you want to influence
• What decision- give them an answer rather
than a problem
• Threats are not enough
Understand how they will perceive the solution you
suggest. Put yourself in their shoes
 Insist on Using Objective Criteria

• Fair Standards
• Fair Procedures -
1. dividing a piece of cake
2. Flipping a coin
3. Drawing lots
4. Third party chooses
5. Last best offer arbitration
 Insist on Objective Criteria
• Make it a joint search for criteria
• Begin negotiations by agreeing on standard to
be applied
• Never yield to pressure
 BATNA
• Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement
1. Not a bottom line - too inflexible
2. Plan ahead for BATNA
3. Use a trip-wire
• A BATNA is to help you avoid making a
mistake
Ten Questions People Ask About
Getting to YES
 I. Questions about fairness and "principled" Negotiation

Question no.1:
Does Positional Bargaining ever make sense?

Question no.2
What if the other side believes in a different standard of
fairness?

Question no.3
Should I be fair even if I do not have to be?
 1-Does Positional Bargaining ever make sense?
• Easy, requires no preparation, universally understood.

• Arbitrary outcome is risky especially in critical issues plus it might turn to be

an index for future transactions.

• The more complex the issue the more unwise to engage in positional
bargaining, complexity needs careful analysis.

• Avoid threats that might damage good working relationships, positional

bargaining is fine if the two parties are strangers, protected by competitive
opportunities.

• If there is a long history of fighting positional bargaining between two parties,

avoid it by establishing a joint problem solving, realistic time table,
brainstorming.

• Positional bargaining tends to stop joint gains (it ends up by leaving a lot of
gold on the table).
 2- What if the other side believes in a different standard of
fairness?

In most negotiations people see different standards of fairness.

Best solution is to use external standards:

• Even conflict standards are better than arbitrary results.

• Reduces costs of backing down.
• Some standards are more persuasive.

Do not try to agree on which is the best it is just a tool.

 3- Should I be fair even if I do not have to be?
Important rule:
Get what you are entitled to while keeping good working relationship with the other side.

Weight possible benefits against possible costs:

• How important is the excess to you.

• May be the other party see themselves doing you a favor.

• Do not assume you are cleverer than the other side.

• Unfair results are un-durable, when the other side discovers unfairness, he will not be
willing to carry it out, so consider the cost of enforcing the agreement.

• May lead to revenge from the other party in the future.

• Cost you your reputation (building reputation is much more difficult than destroying
it) plus reputation opens a large realm of creative agreements in the future.

• Finally will your conscious bother you, remember the tourist and the Kashmir rug.
 II. Questions About Dealing With People

Question no.4
What do I do if people are the problem?

Question no.5
Should I negotiate even with terrorists or someone like
Hitler? When does it make sense not to negotiate?

Question no.6
How should I adjust my negotiating approach to account for
differences of personality- gender – culture and so on?
 4- What do I do if people are the problem?

Important rule: Care about building working relationship with the other
party independent of the agreement or disagreement. Working relationships
are not bought by making concessions instead cope with differences.

• There is no trade off between pursuing good substantive outcome and

pursuing a good working relationship.

• Good relationship tends to make it easier to get good substantive

outcome and vice versa.

• Negotiate the relationship: Your behavior should not be a respond in

kind to the other's party behavior. Rather your behavior should be
designed to a model that encourage the behavior you prefer not the
behavior you dislike
 5- Should I negotiate even with terrorists or someone like
Hitler? When does it make sense not to negotiate?
a) How - Concerning Terrorists:

• Establish dialogue when there are hostages or threatening.

• Negotiation does not mean giving in (paying ransom will encourage more kidnapping).

• Through negotiations convince terrorists and possible future ones that they will not receive ransom and
also learn some of their legitimate interests. Example: the settlement of the seizure of U.S. embassy in Iran.

• High governmental officials meeting with political terrorists might well appear to enhance their
importance, But contact at the professional level is quite different. Example: Kuwait airways flight 422.

b) How - concerning someone like Hitler:

• Depends on alternatives.

• Some interests worth negotiating fighting and even dying for (in case of genocide for example)
• In wars if you can achieve a substantial measure of your interests through nonviolent means then give that
option serious consideration.

• Even when people act out of religious conviction, negotiation may influence their actions (sometimes
religion serves as a handy boundary).

• If your BATNA is fine and negotiations looks unpromising no reason to waste time in negotiation (war is
not a BATNA).
 6- How should I adjust my negotiating approach to account
for differences of personality- gender – culture and so on?

• Get in step: Be sensitive to values, concerns, mood of

people and then adapt your behavior accordingly.

• Pay attention to differences of believe and custom respect

them but avoid making assumptions about people.

• Question your assumptions, through listening actively.

 III. Questions About Tactics

Question no.7
How do I decide things like "where should we meet”. "who
should make the first order”. "How high should I start"?

Question no.8
Concretely how do I move from inventing options to making
commitments?

Question no.9
How do I try out these ideas without taking too much risk?
7 - How do I decide things like "where should we meet" "who
should make the first order" "How high should I start"?

• Where should we meet?

Depends on the circumstances.

• Who should make the first order?

Do not offer too soon - Be well prepared with external
measure of value.

• How high should I start?

Do not be so firm in opening figures.

• Strategy depends on preparation

A clever strategy cannot make up for lack of preparation
 8- Concretely how do I move from inventing options to
making commitments?
• Think about closure from the beginning.

• Sketch a framework agreement.

• Move towards commitment gradually, but be clear that

this is a draft with no commitments until the final package
is made.

• Be persistent in pursuing your interests but not rigid in

pursuing any particular solution.

• Make an offer not as surprise but natural out growth of

the discussion.

• Be generous at the end.

 9 - How do I try out these ideas without taking too
much risk?

• Start small: start with ideas that are built on your current
skills.

• Then try out new ideas one at a time as you gain

experience.

• Make an investment in new approaches.

• Review your performance.

• Hard Work Preparation )planning -good working

relationships - interests - ask professionals)
 IV. Questions About Power

10: Can the way I negotiate really make a difference if the other side is more
powerful? And How do I enhance my negotiating power?
• How you negotiate and (prepare to negotiate) make an enormous difference.

• Resources are different from negotiation power (ability to persuade).

• Trying to estimate who is more powerful is risky. If you estimate you are more powerful
you will relax and if the opposite you will be discouraged to make effort.

• Sources of negotiation power

- developing good BATNA.
- developing good working relationship .
- good communication and good listening.
- understanding concerns of the other party.
- brainstorming.
- using external standards.
- making careful commitments (what you will do – what you will not do – what you want the
other side to do).
- use each of the previous sources of power in harmony with other sources.

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