MODULE 1

A BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO PRINCIPLED NEGOTIATION

The priciples and pillars on which principled negotiation rests

__________________________________________________
On completion of this module, the course participants will understand:

§༊ the administrative arrangements for the different negotiation processes, with

specific reference to scheduling, dates, venues, transport, documentation, safety,
interpretation and expenses, bearing in mind that the issues will regularly reoccur
in the ensuing modules related to the different phases of planning;
§༊ the limitations of distributive positional bargaining vs. integrative principled
negotiation;
§༊ the importance of interests in negotiation, and will be able to identify the interests
that underlie a negotiation position;
§༊ the importance of information and time in any negotiation;
§༊ the pivotal role of trust, flexibility and visibility in a negotiation;
§༊ why relationships are important in a negotiation, and how to establish and protect
relationships;
§༊ the importance of moving a negotiation from deciding to choosing, by
co-operating with the other party to develop as many options/alternatives as
possible;
§༊ the dangers associated with untested perceptions and assumptions;
§༊ the strengths, weakness and application of different negotiation strategies and
processes for specific negotiations, specifically with reference to the ability of
such strategies and processes to create value instead of claiming value;
§༊ when to make first offers in a negotiation; and
§༊ the limitations risk aversion places on negotiation.

1. DEFINITION OF NEGOTIATION
Negotiation, which is part art and part science, is the interactive process whereby
parties together create and explore alternatives in their common quest to reach a
value-enhancing agreement that is mutually acceptable and will be honoured by both
parties despite widely differing initial positions.

§༊ Interactive process – Negotiation is an advanced form of communication in which

two or more parties through their interaction with each other strive towards
achieving a mutually beneficial solution.

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§༊ Creating and exploring alternatives together – For negotiation to succeed in
creating sustainable agreements it is essential that all the parties involved in a
negotiation are willing to move beyond their initial positions and to understand
and acknowledge the interests that underpin these positions. This is the key to
establishing value-enhancing, sustainable agreements. Only when positions are
set aside is it possible to broaden the negotiation frame from a competitive I vs. I
frame to a co-operative WE frame that enables the parties to explore all the
opportunities posed by the negotiation. This prevents the premature thought
closure inherently related to a positional approach, thereby creating the mental,
attitudinal and behavioural flexibility needed to elevate the negotiation above a
mere value-claiming tug-of-war.
§༊ Common quest – In principled negotiation, the focus shifts from I vs. I to WE,
thus creating a negotiation environment within which the parties are able to ask
themselves “what they can become together”. The parties, despite arriving at the
negotiation table with divergent views, are then willing to shift their focus from
what sets them apart to the common interests they inevitably share. This
elevates the negotiation from what is all too often a bruising, competitive
encounter to a co-operative partnership where both parties consciously work
towards achieving an outcome that is optimally beneficial and mutually
acceptable.
§༊ A value-enhancing agreement that is mutually acceptable – True negotiation goes
beyond the mere claiming of value by the parties. It aspires to create an
environment within which the parties feel sufficiently secure to work together for
an outcome that does not merely involve a decision as to how “the cake should
be cut”, but aspires to develop choices to “grow the cake”. In principled
negotiation, the parties are future-orientated, creatively using the negotiation as
an opportunity to work together for a mutually acceptable, value-enhancing
outcome. Instead of merely employing distributive bargaining to “divide the cake”,
they deliberately choose to jointly explore the most productive ways of creating
value for each other. By resisting the temptation to divide the cake, opting rather
to explore its value-enhancing possibilities, they use the cake “to build a bakery”.
They shift the emphasis from claiming value to creating value.
§༊ Mutually acceptable and honoured by both parties – The litmus test for any
negotiation is whether all the parties will honour and uphold the agreement. In
essence, this precludes any process whereby one party victimises the other
party/parties by deliberately stripping out as much value as possible for itself and
leaving the other party/parties with what remains. Understandably, the
party/parties that are stripped bare consequently have no allegiance to the
outcome. True to the dictum that victims become aggressors, they then feel
compelled to undo or undermine what they perceive as an unjust outcome.
§༊ Despite widely differing initial positions – Negotiation is a creative tool that
enables parties to bridge the divides that exist between them on any issues of
concern or importance to them. Although there is a strong correlation between
the extent of the divide between the parties and the difficulty of securing an

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 agreement, negotiation is a resilient tool, capable of resolving even the most
intractable problems and securing sustainable agreements across wide divides.

2. NEGOTIATION – A GENERIC SKILL

Although many an author has described negotiation as the art of the possible, it is an
increasingly well-researched and well-documented business discipline. In most
business schools negotiation and conflict dispute resolution are today regarded as
prerequisites for business and personal success. Politicians, managers,
professionals, consultants, agents, parents and children are becoming increasingly
aware of negotiation as a generic skill that permeates all facets of vocational and
personal life. As our world slowly edges towards a greater degree of democracy in
political, social and economic interactions, negotiation is increasingly seen as a skill
essential to life, society and business.

By virtue of its focus, this manual is primarily orientated towards the complex
negotiations that increasingly characterise the corporate environment.

§༊ It embodies the wide-ranging negotiation knowledge and experience of our

specialist team of consultants and trainers.
§༊ It seeks to relate the key negotiation determinants to the corporate environment in
ways that will create sustainable, value-enhancing negotiation outcomes.
§༊ It aspires to inculcate a principled approach to negotiation that decreases
individual negotiator variance and irrational competitor behaviour.
§༊ Although it recognises that most negotiations are, to use a recent statement from
the Programme on Negotiation at the Harvard Law School, 50% emotional and
50% financial, it does not, as is so often the case, overemphasise the attitudinal
and behavioural aspect to the detriment of the similarly important other aspects.
With the possible exception of a once-off property transaction, negotiation is not a
once-off event. In the corporate environment, negotiation is predominantly a process
- the parties negotiating to negotiate again in future. Most definitions take
cognisance of negotiation as a process, for example.

§༊ “A series of things that are done in order to achieve a particular result.” - Oxford
Learners Dictionary
§༊ “A series of actions or operations conducing to an end.” - Merriam-Webster
Dictionary
Given that negotiation is more often than not a process, it is essential that well-
defined processes and methodologies that optimise outcomes and ensure repeatable
results underpin it. When conducted within the context of a flexible framework,
based on best practice negotiation principles, negotiation is a powerful differentiator
between companies. This is particularly true in the current environment of ever-
increasing commoditisation of products and services.

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In addition to our training in negotiation skills providing organisations with a strong
new ability to differentiate them from their competitors at a time when most
organisations have optimised their sales and procurement strategies and skills, it
also serves to reduce the performance variance within companies, discourages
irrational competitor behaviour and substantially contributes to an improved bottom
line.

3. NEGOTIATION ISSUES
Successful negotiation that optimises the outcome is dependent on the parties
identifying, understanding and clarifying the relevant issues beforehand. In a typical
commercial scenario where a sales person approaches a potential customer with a
proposition to buy certain products or services at a proposed price, the two parties
are likely to negotiate certain issues related to the proposition, e.g. the price, the
delivery schedule, discounts and service arrangements. Were the prospect not to
understand the pricing or delivery schedule, his/her ability to negotiate a preferential,
fair price successfully would be severely impaired.

Issues in a negotiation may be simple, such as the price for a service or product, or
more complicated, such as the market value of a new business acquisition, or
somewhat fuzzy, such as the exact wording of an agreement.

Generally, a negotiation concerns one or more issues about which the parties hold
differing views. Spending time to identify and rank the issues as they pertain to all
the parties involved in the negotiation, provides an excellent basis for planning the
negotiation and anticipating supportive arguments. MacMillan (1974) points out, that
as negotiation issues are very likely to have a different ranking for each of the
parties, identifying and ranking issues prior to negotiation could provide a negotiator
with a sound basis for an optimal concession strategy. A party that has done its
homework could then, according to MacMillan (1974) ensure that it concedes its least
important issue in a manner that creates the impression of a substantial concession,
and then in return request a counter-concession that is of far greater importance to it,
but of lesser importance to the other party.

4. POSITIONS & INTERESTS

4.1 Positions
The concept of a position in a negotiation refers to ground that the negotiator feels
obliged to strongly defend in the face of an opposing party. On entering a negotiation
parties normally have clearly defined, explicit negotiating positions underpinned by
tangible or non-tangible interests. Although these interests are often not articulated,
and may at times be inconsistent, they are normally deemed sufficiently important to
warrant a strong defence. Negotiators often run the risk of becoming so rigidly
fixated on positions that they fail to identify and respond to the interests that underpin
positions, thereby allowing the negotiation to rapidly degenerate into a win-lose battle
that cannot produce an agreement that all the parties will honour.

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It is not possible to build a successful negotiation around a positional, adversarial
standoff in which negotiators trade offers and counter-offers in an effort to achieve a
compromise solution. Although this may produce an agreement, the result is seldom
more than a lowest common denominator solution that fails to meet either party’s
interests and inevitably leaves potential value on the table. This significantly limits
the ability of the parties to develop creative solutions that integrate apparently
conflicting needs and aims. Focusing on making and trying to gain concessions
invariably also has a severely detrimental effect on the relationship between the
parties, and therefore negatively influences the sustainability of an agreement.

Positional bargaining is often highly problematic because, as the negotiation

advances, the negotiators tend to become more and more committed to their
positions, continuously restating and defending these positions. This invariably leads
to a lack of attention to the underlying interests and frequently results in a somewhat
mechanical splitting of the difference between final positions rather than a jointly
created solution that meets the legitimate interests of the parties.

Negotiators normally reveal their positions in their opening statements.

4.2 Interests
Contrary to popular assumptions, the basic challenge in a negotiation does not
concern the conflicting positions of the parties. It concerns their interests – basic
needs (security, economic well-being, recognition, belonging, control, etc.) desires,
concerns and fears, as these interests constitute the silent motivators that underpin
positions. Whereas positions are something the parties decide to adopt, interests are
reasons why the parties adopt particular positions. Behind the positions taken by the
negotiators when embarking on a negotiation, lie shared and conflicting interests that
have the potential to become the building blocks of wise agreements. Although both
the clothing merchant and customer have a liking for both clothing and money, the
clothing merchant has a greater interest in money, whereas the customer prefers
clothing to money.

Identifying and acknowledging interests requires negotiators to stand in the shoes of

the other party and to view the position that party takes from its perspective. This is
best achieved by asking, “Why they want that?”, “Why they need that?”, “What their
concerns, fears and hopes are?”, “Why they feel the way they do?”, “Why they are
demanding what they demand?” – for example “It would be a tragedy if pollution
destroyed your wonderful garden”. It is also achieved by trying to determine what
requests/demands the other party expected during the negotiation, and weighing the
consequences such an outcome would have for that party – short-term/long-term
consequences, economic implications, public support, precedents, exclusion of a
better outcome, timing – by means of these enquiries negotiators are able to gain
insight into the interests underlying negotiations.

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 NEEDS WHICH CAN PLAY A ROLE AS NEGOTIATION NEEDS WHICH CAN
PLAY A ROLE AS NEGOTIATION
INTERESTS INTERESTS
§༊ SAFETY/SECURITY
The need for structure, predictability, stability and freedom from fear and anxiety.
§༊ BELONGING/LOVE
The need to be accepted by others and to have strong personal ties with family, friends and peer
group.
§༊ SELF-ESTEEM
The need to be recognised by self and others as strong, competent and capable. In addition, the
need to know that one has some effect on his/her environment.
§༊ PERSONAL FULFILMENT
The need to reach one’s potential in all areas of life.
§༊ IDENTITY
The need to experience a sense of self in relation to the outside world. Problems arise when the
legitimacy of one’s identity is not recognised, or one is seen as inferior or is threatened by others.
§༊ CULTURAL SECURITY
The need for recognition of one’s language, traditions, culture, religion, values, ideas and
concepts.
§༊ FREEDOM
The need to not be subject to physical, political or civil restraints and to be able to exercise choice
in all aspects of life
§༊ DISTRIBUTIIIVE JUSTICE
The need for fair allocation of resources amongst all members of a community. Figure 1.1
§༊ PARTICIPATION
The need to be able to actively participate in and influence civil society.

According to Maslow and Burton human needs go beyond food, water and shelter.
These needs include both physical and non-physical elements needed for human
growth and development, as well as those things humans are inherently driven to
attain. When these needs are frustrated in a negotiation, the result is often
protracted and intractable conflict.

4.3 Interests vs. Position

When parties opt not to haggle about positions, but choose rather to work together to
explore opportunities, they develop a relationship that encourages communication.
Instead of fixating on positions, they then feel sufficiently secure to discuss their
interests and to brainstorm value-optimising options. Only once they have generated
all possible options, do they discuss and apply objective criteria to determine the
most preferred, mutually beneficial option to which they are both able to commit as it
provides greater value than the alternatives they could pursue independently of each

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other. Not only does an interest-based approach produce better agreements and
solutions, but it also creates a mutually beneficial partnership relationship.

When the focus of a negotiation is not on past grievances, but on future concerns,
interests rise above positions. Focusing on interests as the precursor to jointly
developing an agreement or solution, creates an open and empathic interaction, such
as in the following example where the complainant is not against development but is
mostly concerned about protecting the safety of his children – “The construction
vehicles screaming past our home day and night scare my wife and I to death
thinking of the safety of our children. We are all constantly exhausted due to a lack
of sleep.”

Strongly focusing on interests rather than positions makes negotiators more problem-
orientated and thus far less prone to becoming personal in their negotiations.

SEPARATING PROBLEM ISSUES

TANGIBLE INTANGIBLE

S § Negative emotions
n ༆ Price ༊§
E § Lack of respect
L
M
B n ༆ Terms ༊§
O § Distrust

P
༊§
n ༆ Conditions § Insensitivity
R ༊§
§ Etc.
༊§

§ Active listening § Interests

S
N ༊§ ༊§
O § Empa thy § Option s
TI ༊§ ༊§
U § Understanding
L
༊§
S § Emotional intelligence
O ༊§

Figure 1.2

In any negotiations the negotiators are usually well aware of the tangible issues and
often entirely forget that intangible issues also exert an extremely strong influence on
the negotiation process and the eventual outcome.

6. POSITIONAL BARGAINING VS PRINCIPLED NEGOTIATION

According to the Oxford Dictionary, both bargaining and negotiation require that the
parties reach an agreement or compromise through a process of give-and-take.
Although this characterization is broadly true, it fails to take cognisance of the fact
that bargaining primarily relates to monetary transactions where both parties

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 understand that buyers are orientated towards achieving the lowest possible price,
whereas sellers tend to inflate their prices above what is expected to allow for a
gradual decrease in response to price bargaining by the buyer. Negotiation,
however, is a much more multi-faceted process that requires both parties to co-
operate in a spirit of compromise that enables a mutually beneficial agreement that
will stand the test of time.

Although distributive, positional bargaining is applicable in certain environments, it

seldom creates the sustainable, profitable agreements required in complex corporate
environments. Ultimately integrative, principled negotiation is far more beneficial as it
not only optimises value, but also ensures that the deals that are stuck will pass the
acid test for any negotiation, namely that they will hold in the manner envisaged.

Bargaining has serious limitations, especially when negotiation takes place higher up
the value chain of services and products, as it typically employs a positional,
competitive, self-interest mode of interaction that fails to provide for any meaningful
accommodation of the other parties’ interests. Furthermore, it proceeds from the
assumption that every negotiation is a once-off encounter and that it is therefore
highly unlikely that the parties will do business with each other ever again.
Bargaining is akin to a zero-sum game with distinct winners and losers.

DISRIBUTIVE POSITIONAL INTEGRIATIVE PRINCIPLED

BARGAINING NEGOTIATION

§༊ Parties treat each other as adversaries, §༊ Parties work together to explore

I vs I opportunities
§༊ Hard bargaining §༊ Seeks an outcome based on the needs
§༊ Commits to position early in of all the parties
negotiation §༊ Co-operative
§༊ Competitive, antagonistic, §༊ Assertive
confrontational §༊ Not bottom line fixated
§༊ Egocentric, self-interest, self needs §༊ Uses objective criteria as basis for
§༊ Distributive – seek “win-lose” victory decisions
in which more is won than the other §༊ Orientated towards common interests
party §༊ Future focused
§༊ Defensive §༊ Integrative – seek “win-win”
§༊ Assertive – only one solution, mine agreement that is mutually beneficial
§༊ Past/present focused §༊ Relationship sensitive
§༊ Relationship insensitive §༊ Open and employs fair principles
§༊ Applies pressure §༊ Relies on reason and yields to
§༊ Misleads and employs tricks principle
§༊ Claims value §༊ Negotiates hard based on interests
§༊ Creates value
Figure 1.3
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7. THE PILLARS OF PRINCIPLED NEGOTIATION
In addition to the aforesaid principles, the three pillars of negotiation, trust, flexibility
and visibility, are also crucially important in terms of achieving sustainable
agreements that will be honoured by all the parties. Neglecting these pillars,
invariably results in suboptimal outcomes or in one or more of the parties feeling
sufficiently victimised to not commit to an agreement. To achieve success in building
durable relationships, parties must pursue and achieve their objectives in such a
manner that they simultaneously establish and maintain strong and healthy business-
to-business relations. Such relationships reduce compliance monitoring and
transaction costs, create greater value through the improved use of assets and
capabilities, enable low-cost high-value trade-offs, result in fewer costly surprises,
facilitate early problem recognition and stimulate innovation. Trust, flexibility and
visibility lead to parties feeling sufficiently secure to share their interests with each
other, and promotes the understanding required to create mutually beneficial, value-
enhancing deals.

PRINCIPLED NEGOTIATION

Y
T VI SI
TR B IL
ILI
U ST IB ITY
X

FLE

Figure 1.4

7.1 Trust
Negotiation is a highly sophisticated form of communication. Without trust such
communication is not possible. Instead, manipulation and suspicion would
masquerade as communication. Good negotiators are trustworthy. They honour
their commitments, tell the truth and respect confidences.

Although trust tends to develop naturally over time, negotiators seldom have the
luxury of being able to let nature take its course. This being the case, many
negotiators simply opt to limit the risk by only embarking on deals that involve few
tradeoffs, few concessions, and the sharing of minimal information between parties.
As a result of their uncertainty regarding the trustworthiness of the other party, they
exclude their organisations from significant opportunities.

The ability to foster trust in the course of a negotiation is a critical skill for negotiators.
Deepak Malhotra, writing in Negotiation (Edition of 5 April 2004), recommends that
negotiators employ the following seven strategies to influence others' perceptions of
their trustworthiness at the bargaining table:

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§༊ Speak the language of the other party
It is important that negotiators speak one another's language. This principle does
not only include understanding technical terms and jargon, but also entails a
sensitivity to the nuances and cultural implications underpinning what is being
said, and being aware of how the other party uses words and non-verbal
language to convey ideas. Displaying an understanding for the other party's
history, culture, and perspective, conveys a message of commitment to the
negotiation and the relationship. This signals an eagerness and readiness to
follow through on the negotiated agreement.
Negotiators can increase the impact of pre-negotiation preparation by informing
the other party of the work they have done to understand the prospective needs,
and interests of that party, but also by recognising that further learning will take
place as the negotiation moves forward and the relationship develops. When
misunderstandings do occur, as often happens, both parties will view this as part
of a learning process and increase their efforts to understand each other's point of
view.
§༊ Manage your reputation
In a negotiation, your reputation precedes you. A bad reputation can be a non-
starter, while a strong reputation can assist in overcoming very tough obstacles.
Successful negotiators appreciate that their reputation is not merely a backdrop to
a negotiation, but is in fact a very important tool. They employ their reputation by
providing the other party with references from mutually trusted third parties that
are able to vouch for their character and competence. Where appropriate, they
even at times arrange that a third party communicates directly with the other party
prior to the negotiation, or they provide media or trade references of past
successes in similar negotiations.

§༊ Make dependence a factor

The more dependent a person is on some other person, the more that person is
willing to trust the other person, as is borne out to the extreme by the Stockholm
syndrome, during which hostages become so psychologically dependent on their
captors that they came to trust their captors' statements and demands more than
those of the officials who were attempting to negotiate their release. In a
negotiation, when both parties understand and believe that they need each other
to achieve their respective goals amidst an environment of limited options, trust
between the parties increases. Negotiators are able to trigger this trust-building
process by emphasising the unique benefits they can provide and by stressing
the damage that could be incurred because of a standoff or deadlock. When a
stalemate looms large and the alternatives to an agreement seem very limited,
painful or costly, negotiators tend to trust even their "enemy."

§༊ Make unilateral concessions

Negotiating with strangers and adversaries tends to be extremely measured and
careful, with both parties cautiously weighing what is to be gained from each
concession made by the other party. This stands in stark contrast to negotiations
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 where a long-term relationship exists, as such negotiations usually focus far less
on keeping score of gains and losses. Experience teaches that a carefully
structured unilateral concession often leads to the development of trust, as it
communicates to the other party that its counterpart in the negotiation deems the
relationship to be a co-operative one, with the potential for mutual gains and trust
over time.

Bearing in mind that a true unilateral concession should not require commitment
or a concession from the other side, it should not entail substantial cost or risk to
the provider, but must involve a meaningful benefit to the recipient. In addition to
establishing trust, carefully crafted unilateral concessions also demonstrate
sensitivity and competence by communicating an understanding of the interests
and values of the other party.

§༊ Label your concessions

Although it is generally true that actions may speak louder than words, this is not
necessarily the case in a negotiation. Concessions, whether unilateral or not, are
often not influential in building trust or encouraging reciprocity, as the recipient
fails to appreciate them as such. In an effort to relieve them from the obligation of
reciprocating, negotiators often devalue each other's concessions and
contributions, thus resulting in many concessions going unnoticed or
unacknowledged. Understandably, this could lead to confusion, resentment, an
escalation of negative tactics and unwillingness by the affronted party to
co-operate.

In negotiation, it is important not to simply accept that actions speak for

themselves. When a party makes a significant concession, it must ensure that it
communicates exactly how much it has conceded, as well as the value it attaches
to this concession. By communicating details concerning the concessions it has
made, a party stands not only to influence the perceptions, attitude and behaviour
of the other party, but also increases the level of mutual trust and encourages the
other party to reciprocate.

§༊ Explain your demands

Unfortunately, at the outset of a negotiation the other party is often inclined to
assume the worst about the motives and intentions of its counterpart. When a
party holds out for a better deal, it is seen as being greedy, wishing to see the
other party suffer, or simply being unfair. The reality could be that the party
making such assumptions may not be discounting the fact that its counterpart is
representing a constituency that will not accept the deal on the table or has
serious budgetary constraints.

Given that psychologists have established that people tend to view themselves in
the best possible light and to view others in a much less positive light, especially
those with whom they are in conflict, it is important that negotiators make a strong
case for their actions in a negotiation and provide the other party with

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 explanations of their demands. This is why an opening offer, when viewed by the
other side as extreme, can diminish and even destroy trust, whereas an offer
explained and justified is unlikely to destroy trust, and may even enhance trust.

§༊ Maximize joint gain

Only negotiators that believe that the other party is competent and of good
character take the risks that are necessary to achieve value-enhancing negotiated
outcomes, and to implement these agreements in social, economic, and political
environments that are ever-changing.

Trust is essential when profit, security or peace depend upon the motives and actions
of another party. The good news is that negotiators can build the trust that is
necessary for a negotiation to yield optimal joint gain.

7.2 Flexibility
In creativity terminology, positional negotiators suffer from what is termed premature
thought closure. Their intent is to use the negotiation as a battleground where they
gradually wear down the other party and drag it towards the inflexible position they
wish to secure. They are oblivious to the destructive consequences this has from the
perspective of a relationship, as they are fixated on the substance. The concept of
working together to develop creative options that could enhance mutual value falls
outside their frame of reference.

RELATIONSHIP

SUBSTANCE

Figure 1.5

Positional negotiators also tend to be convergent thinkers, merely focusing on the

issue at hand. They see only one beneficial outcome, their position. Their focus is
restrictive; past/present orientated, intent on securing as much as possible of the pie
for their side, and is not attuned to the building or maintaining of a relationship.

Principled negotiators are divergent thinkers that see every negotiation as an

opportunity to work together with other parties in ways that unlock optimal value for
all parties and establish a sound basis for a mutually beneficial future relationship.

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 POSITIONAL PRINCIPLED
NEGOTIATORS NEGOTIATORS

Figure 1.6

R
E RELATIONSHIP LOOPS
L
A
T
I Confirm suspicions/ Improve mutual
perceptions understanding
O
N
S
H
I
P

Restrict L Low value deal Share info on Create value

information O interests options
flow
Create
O
O
P
S

Build the relationship Underinvest in the

And trust relationship

The well-known nine-dot problem, posing the challenge of connecting all nine dots
with four straight lines, without lifting the pencil and without backtracking over any of
the lines, probably best illustrates the importance of flexibility. Interestingly most
people find the problem extremely difficult, as they are naturally inclined to see the
nine dots within a frame defined by the outer rows of the nine dots. As a result of this
self-imposed limitation, they try to work within the perceived frame and consequently
fail to discover a possible way for successfully connecting the nine dots according to
the instructions given. Only when the potential existence of a perceived boundary is
drawn to their attention, do they discover the flexibility required to solve this problem.

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Once interests have been identified, the parties need to work together to brainstorm
the best possible ways of meeting such interests. They need to think outside the
boundaries and to list all possible options without initially criticising or dismissing any
of those proposed. The goal is to come up with creative new ideas that will ensure a
“win more”/”win more” outcome which accommodates most if not all of the interests
of both parties – that at a minimum view the outcome is a gain for both parties,
rather than a loss.

Starting point

Dots to be
connected

Perceived
boundary

Solution lies
outside the
perceived
boundary

Figure 1.8

7.3 Visibility
When negotiators do not trust each other, their natural tendency is to reveal as little
as possible to the other side and to play their cards as close as possible to their
chests. This understandably exacerbates the distrust, creates a climate of
unpredictability and prevents the other party from opening itself to options that may
exceed its initial expectation. Unless one of the parties is willing to run the risk of
revealing its interests and visibly showing its good intentions, the negotiation is likely
either to fail or to deliver a sub-optimal outcome that in all probability will rapidly
unravel.

Good negotiators understand that the only way of encouraging the other party to
open itself to the possibility of jointly creating a mutually beneficial solution, requires
a willingness on their part to take the first step towards visibility. For them the
advantage of encouraging the other party to drop its defences, rates far higher than
the potential danger of the other party exploiting their self-imposed vulnerability.

The law of reciprocity, probably the strongest motivator of human behaviour,

postulates that negotiators willing to take the lead in exposing their interests and the
rationale for these interests benefit in the majority of cases, as their counterparts feel

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compelled to respond to the obligation this places upon them. Within a climate of
trust, negotiators are nigh powerless to respond anything but positively.

8. PERCEPTIONS & ASSUMPTIONS

Many a negotiation fails because of the faulty assumptions that negotiators make
about the other party and which they neglect to check before entering the
negotiation. Very often, these assumptions become self-fulfilling prophecies.

Some of the assumptions to which negotiators are particularly prone include

accepting that:

§༊ The other party is necessarily difficult and inflexible;

§༊ The contracting zone is far narrower than it actually is;
§༊ The other party has a very strong or very weak case;
§༊ Flexibility leads to victimisation;
§༊ The only form of power lies in escalating power;
§༊ Principled negotiation cannot deliver a better solution than his/her position;
§༊ Concessions are a form of weakness;
§༊ The outcome of a negotiation is limited to the size of the resource on the table;
§༊ The size of a negotiation team is related to its power;
§༊ The other party will only agree to a deal if elbowed into the deal;
§༊ One style of negotiation fits all cultural sizes;
§༊ The other side is out to get them and therefore needs to be got at first;
§༊ The other party has a weak, or no alternative to a, negotiated agreement; and
§༊ The other party has a low walk-away threshold.

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 PERCEPTIONS

ATTENTION RECOGNITION TRANSLATION

STIMULUS BEHAVIOUR

§༊ Stereotyping §༊ Roles §༊ Communication

§༊ Halo effect §༊ Groupthink ♦ Verbal

§༊ Selectivity ♦ Invulnerability • Pace

§༊ Projection ♦ Moralisation • Pitch

§༊ First ♦ Unanimity • Volume

impressions
♦ Conformity • Silence
§༊ Defensiveness Dismissal of Vowels
♦ •
§༊ Space & territory opposing ideas
• Plosives
§༊ Party size §༊ Politeness
• S-sound
§༊ Risky shift §༊ Uncluttered
§༊
tables
§༊ Location ♦ Non-verbal

§༊ Furnishings & • Space

décor
• Eyes

• Face

• Arms

• Hands

• Legs

• Posture

• Attentivene
ss

Figure 1.9

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 MODULE 1

THE PRINCIPLES & PILLARS OF NEGOTIATION

_________________________________________________________________

Summary

§༊ A successful negotiator displays definable characteristics that can be taught.

§༊ Negotiation is an equation with clearly identifiable variables.
§༊ A principled approach to negotiation enhances negotiator competency and
confidence, ensures that positive outcomes are repeatable, and decreases
negotiator variance and irrational competitor behaviour.
§༊ Any negotiation involves three parties:

♦ Proponents – those who make propositions.

♦ Prospects – those who evaluate and accept or decline propositions.
♦ Key Players – those who are in a position to exert a significant direct or
indirect influence on the outcome of the negotiation.
§༊ Successful negotiators do not fixate on conflicting positions, but rather seek to
identify and understand the interests that underlie positions - needs, desires
concerns and fears.
§༊ Interests are the silent motivators that drive positions.
§༊ Positions reflect our decisions; interests underlie these decisions.
§༊ Behind the opposing positions of parties lie the shared and conflicting interests
that constitute the building blocks of wise settlements.
§༊ Positions are concrete and explicit; interests are often intangible and vague.
§༊ Discovering the interests of another party requires getting into their shoes.
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© Infostrat – Executive Negotiator Programme