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

Add Your PerspectiveSeptember 5, 2008

The Power to Walk Away: Do You Really Know Your Downside?

I wrote recently on The Sid Hill Rule, where “the power to negotiate is the power to walk away.”  While others may disagree, I believe there is no more important rule for any negotiator.  A corollary of this rule is that, before you decide to walk away from the negotiating table, you had better know what your downside is.  My recent search for a beach house reminded me just how hard that analysis can be.

Surfing to seaside.com

One of my favorite places growing up was a tiny spot on the Florida Panhandle near Grayton Beach.  Then a destination virtually unknown, I watched a nearby idea called “Seaside” take hold and grow – by all appearances into a quaint, family-oriented community that would serve as the ideal backdrop for any American’s Fourth of July photo.

When a recent urge to take a vacation hit me I typed the logical guess “seaside.com” into my browser.  I was surprised to see More…

Categories: Fundamentals,Negotiation,Settlement,Theory,Walk Away

2 PerspectivesSeptember 3, 2008

The Sid Hill Rule

“What’s the most important rule in negotiation?” Young lawyers have asked me that question after CLE presentations, clients have asked it at mediations, and relatives have posed it at the dinner table. While others may disagree with my answer, it hasn’t changed since Sid Hill taught it to me almost 25 years ago.

As a college sophomore formally studying negotiation for the first time, I dove into each problem immediately – focusing on tactics like when my partner and I should try the “good cop/bad cop” routine and when I might walk out of the negotiations to see if my opponent would beg me to come back to the table.  While my efforts paid off, I eventually pushed too hard in one of my exercises, leaving me with no deal at all.  Sure, I had understood conceptually that I needed to close my deal, but I had not focused on what the world would look like if everyone else got their deal done and I didn’t.  While I had been on the cusp of closing a better agreement than anyone else, I closed nothing.

Sid Hill, then my professor and later a mentor for many years, articulated the rule I had just stumbled upon.  “The power to negotiate is the power to walk away.” More…

Categories: Fundamentals,Negotiation,Settlement,Theory,Walk Away