1 PerspectiveOctober 14, 2008

The Most Important Word in Negotiation

High-stakes deals attract some of the best negotiators, and it’s always fun to see the latest techniques in action.  Many of the most sophisticated dealmakers and lawyers are eager to show that they’re on the cutting edge of the negotiating game, impressing their clients with advanced moves from Getting to Yes to Start With No to countless others.  Sadly, they often miss the point.

Why Credibility Is Critical to Negotiation

Somehow the audience for all our efforts is forgotten. No matter how little we actually see one another, negotiation still happens between people.  People take positions, people make decisions, and people close deals.  And much of what they do results from what you say and do. More…

Categories: Communication,Fundamentals,Negotiation,Settlement

Add Your PerspectiveOctober 3, 2008

One Reason to Manage the Other Side’s Expectations

There’s an old saying that “victory has a hundred fathers, but defeat is an orphan.”  It might have taken me a long time to learn why, but there is a good reason you should put that lesson to use at the beginning of many cases.

Would you rather be associated with a good case or a bad case?  If you had a choice, you’d pick the good case, right?  Everyone loves a winner, and at law firms it’s no different.  Associates, staff and even partners can smell a winning case, and a firm’s best lawyers often manage to work their way onto the team when they hear about a hot new matter.  It’s human nature, and it shouldn’t surprise anyone – just like it shouldn’t surprise us when good lawyers are able to migrate away from bad cases.

I wrote recently about how important it is to manage client expectations skillfully and realistically in Managing Expectations:  An Unexpected Lesson on the Bus to Hertz, but when it comes to their opponents, most people would rather surprise the other side than manage their expectations.  This post explores why you might not want to listen to most people. More…

Categories: Fundamentals,Miscellaneous,Tactics

2 PerspectivesSeptember 16, 2008

Why We Can’t Just “Cut to the Chase”: Acceptance Time in Negotiation

Not so long ago I was in Cleveland mediating a fairly complex commercial dispute.  My client had a plane to catch at the end of the day but, as is often the case, he really wanted a good deal.  Based on each side’s positions and the “dance” to that point, we both knew where the case would probably settle.  At about 3:00 in the afternoon he looked at his watch and asked a question most of us have heard before:  “Why don’t we just cut to the chase, offer what it’s going to take to settle this thing, and get out of here?”

“Cut to the Chase” Is Not a Negotiation Term

I recently learned that Hollywood, rather than frustrated negotiators, brought us the phrase “cut to the chase.”  Like today, good movies from the early days of talking pictures frequently ended with a chase scene.  “Obligatory romantic storylines” that weren’t exactly the best part of the movie often preceded the chase, according to The Phrase Finder.  Unfortunately, getting from the obligatory romance to the end wasn’t always smooth — Wikipedia tells us that, at some point, “an inexpert screenwriter or director, unsure how to get to the climax, would just make an abrupt transition, known as a cut.”

The Chase Scene Doesn’t Work Without the Rest of the Movie

While experienced negotiators may realize it a bit sooner than everyone else, at some point we all begin to see where our deal is headed. More…

Categories: Fundamentals,Mediation,Negotiation,Settlement

5 PerspectivesSeptember 12, 2008

Managing Expectations: An Unexpected Lesson on the Bus to Hertz

A few weeks ago I landed in Baltimore to find all the glamour that usually greets the business traveler: a wait at the bus stop better described as steamy than hot, a luggage rack designed to fit everyone’s bag but mine, and a recognition that I didn’t really know the way to my dinner meeting after all.  I soon encountered a negotiation technique ignored by some of the most experienced negotiators – a technique that worked on me that day and can work for you.

It’s Only 8 Minutes

Moments after the bus doors closed I checked the time and pondered how I would jam a full day into what was left of it.  Thirty seconds later, as I began to envision arriving at my car, a soothing voice came over the intercom and said:  “The ride to the rental car center will take approximately 8 minutes.  Please sit back and enjoy the ride.”  Or words to that effect.  While in retrospect it seems that there must have been a closer place to put the rental cars, I did as I was told.  Once I got to my car and through Hertz “security” I realized what had happened – the bus driver had managed my expectations.  And it had worked. More…

Categories: Communication,Fundamentals,Negotiation,Settlement