American negotiating style

Everyone's different. Especially in negotiations. You may have your personal style but most probably it will be affected by the country of your origin. I am not an American, but I'll try to point out some advantages and disadvantages which you have, as I have noticed them.

Americans usually are prepared - they know what is their resistance point, what they should demand. They speak clearly and plainly - during the negotiations in the class, all the instructions and proposals from my friends were straight, and there was no hidden message which I could miss. On the other hand, from my experience, Americans are very distributive - they don't focus on cooperation, rather want to win as much as possible for themselves. Naturally, negotiations are not a zero-sum game, and American negotiators know that - but they rather take than give. The good thing is that the opening position is never their final position. That is something I really appreciate, as it gives a lot of space for creativity. Unfortunately, Americans do not care much about relationships. That it really easily seen in the small talk. Two welcoming sentences and raedy to go! I really do not like this impatience. The last thing I complain about is the very popular cultural minimization, which is when one's (in this case American) own cultural norms need to supersede the cultural expectations of others. But there is a good thing at the same time! Americans' personality is super strong and there's not much that can break them.

Don't get me wrong, Americans taught me a lot, your culture is very different, especially in negotiations. That was the best experience I could get, and I appreciate it a lot.

How about teams?

I hate it. I hate it when someone's my representative and s/he loses. Why should I ever trust anyone? Does it even make sense? I know my issue best, I can do whatever I want on my own.

Well, no. Here come the times, when you're not able to be a sole warrior. One man is simply not as creative, or has as much knowledge as his/her friends combined in negotiations. Are you selling a house? You don't have an agent? Good luck! Remember that you may not have enough data about the industry. You may not have enough connections. Some negotiations are so much complex that you'll simply not be able to perform well without an ally.

And now my little thoughts from the class - I really love to work individually. It is difficult, yes, but gives much more satisfaction. But sometimes there are times, when I'm not prepared enough. What's then? My team members are my salvation. What's the catch? Conflicts. Unfortunately, I don't have much experience about that, as mostly we had "instant" agreements within a group. But I wish I were in a very complex, very difficult situations and I made many mistakes. Why? To learn and remember. I wish you all some difficult experiences, so you can grow stronger.

Happy thanksgiving!

Decision-Making Biases

The most prominent assumption is that decision-makers are rational. What's the truth? How does it correspond to the reality? Every day world proves that people make mistakes (and they will). Sometimes, however, being irrational is a good thing. I remember that once in a class we had a negotiation where we had to agree on a very important contractbetween two companies. Although bluffing might have been stupid, I lied about having second offer from different company to threaten the opposite party, so they become anchored and set their price lower. That was one of the decision-making biases - risk seeking. Individuals will take irrational risks when the potential payoff is unusually large. They could have not believed me. I could have lost the entire contract... But they did believe me and we agreed, although it was irrational for them to make a deal.

Another bias I (this time) suffered from was my very first negotiation in this course. I was so much anchored, so much closed minded that I couldn't see that there's no payoff from the deal we had. That is called "Escalation of Commitment" and I will remember that good lesson 'til the rest of my life.

Newtown schools negotiations

Well, so my thoughts today are pretty simple. 

Being a foreigner puts you in a especially unpleasing position, as you'll be forced to think twice as much. No, a man can't just study other languages, he must master them. That's the hard truth about communication. You probably won't be able to win negotiations with the expected result if you don't have enough lingual skills! Second is the fear. Do you fear? That might not be clever to say "no, I don't". Being on teacher's association side we were afraid of losing our jobs. We were responsible for others' jobs too. Are you brave enough to battle your supervisors? Are you law-conscious enough to fight your weak position? Unless you are a lawyer, I doubt it. So basically this week's negotiations taught me three basic things: 

1. You lose, if you aren't as fluent to communicate as others are (it doesn't matter if you are a foreigner or not, you must know many psychological tricks, right?) 

2. You lose, if you aren't sure of your position, and you don't have enough power to counter-attack. 

3. You lose if you don't know the law.

'Final Offer' Documentary

An image is worth than thousands of words

This week we watched a documentary titled "Final Offer", from 1985. The movie was about US-Canadian General Motors company, and UAW. The main character, Bob White, who was the head of Canadian Union, was fighting for the workers to get them the deal, they deserved. Living under high pressure, he didn't stop his fight, and with a great will, he showed his opponents how strong a man can be.

While I'm not going to spoil the plot, I give you the direct link to the movie on YouTube, where you can watch the entire documentary.

Watching this I was impressed how unexpected negotiations can be. How important are coalitions, and how easily they can be broken. The conclusion I see is that the most important part of negotiations is information. This, and the stubbornness of the negotiator, his or her posture, ability to form coalitions without other parties knowing it, the team that a negotiator has to have... Without them I cannot imagine anyone trying to get any deal in these difficult times.

On the other hand, this documentary shows how much power unions have. One phone call can change everything. One phone call can destroy a man. 

Working as a negotiator, you must prepare yourself to live in very dangerous environment. Don't fool yourself that no one ever will try to harm you. Psychologically. How strong mentally you are defines how well you negotiate.

As a beginner negotiator I see how big potential sociology, psychology and self-development have. A person cannot learn the theory only. A person must encourage him- or herself to live under pressure. If a negotiator cannot manage it, then it's not his world.

Moral leadership

Democracy is the power of equal votes for unequal minds.

- Charles I of England 

As there are many departments in companies that are aiming for some particular aspects, like: finance, sales, technology, research and development, their goal, in theory, is to cooperate to create a greater value for the company. However, there might be many situations where departments may fight each other.

As a good negotiator you should foresee them and implement a democracy into your business.

Although business may seem to be an autocratic environment, where specialists are leading, showing all their knowledge and using it to create strategies, and achieve certain personal goals, there might be no sense to fight for outcome not in the name of a company.

Yes, in general, we are more interested in the results that will affect us positively short-term: we want higher wages, less work time, we want to be seen as an intelligent and wise person, lead, put our own ideas into life, and show others that we have more power. In fact, by doing this we can make our company collapse and lose all the prosperity in the more distant future.

As a beginner negotiator, what I have developed so far are the 5 rules that a moral leader should follow in order to create a peaceful and thoughtful atmosphere in all the negotiations, no matter the topic and value of them. 

Coalitions?

Sometimes it is very difficult to reach a certain goal in negotiations. It's not always a 1 on 1 issue, and more often we're found in situations, where there are 3 or more parties. This doesn't necessarily mean that this kind of problem will be found in business only. It is something very common. Preparing for a trip (where everyone has different view of where to go, transportation, where to eat etc.), group work in projects, politics.. It all is about coalitions and finding the best possible benefit for everyone involved.

Dealing with Liars

"Lying is not exceptional; it is normal, and more often spontaneous and unconcious than cynical and coldly analytical. Our minds and bodies secrete deceit." 

- D. L. Smith, 

Why We Lie: The Evolutionary Roots of Deception and the Unconscious Mind 

Although it is illegal and mostly unethical when bargaining, many people do this. It doesn't necessarily mean giving the wrong, completely misleading information. Puffing, bluffing, partially true statements; it all is a lie. The thing is - we almost don't care about that.

As Charles B. Craver says, negotiator may lie without being dishonest. This is called "misrepresenting" - the "ability" we are almost born with. It is a kind of behavior that starts early - typically at age three or four. 

Studies prove that the older we are, the better liars we become. In fact, our bodies and minds are prepared for that, which explains that it's easier to lie than to detect the lie. 

But what's the point? Does it mean we should or shouldn't lie (or misrepresent the information)? 

Job offer negotiation

While most of our negotiations connect with our daily, non-business tasks, there is a moment in each young man's (and woman's) life, when we prepare ourselves to find a job. Most of the times, that means an interview and job offer negotiation. Should we care how we look, what we say, what we want? Why is it so important?

Negotiation checklist

Often times we think we are good improvisers. We don't like to waste our time on the things we consider "useless". We think we can achieve any goal simply "trying".

The truth is, the lack of preparation is the preparation of our defeat.

As our textbook states "Preparation increases your chance of success, whether in combat, sports, or negotiations." It doesn't matter if you want to buy a new car, rent a hotel room for 10 people, beg for money from a Business Angel or simply tell your wife, you want to spend your vacations in the mountains instead of going to the beach - you NEED to prepare yourself, or lose*.

Midwestern::Contemporary Art case

Today I’m going to look at the “Midwestern::Contemporary Art” case which can be found in the book “Negotiation” by Lewicki

"The used car" and "Knight Engines - Excalibur Engine Parts"

First negotiations in the class are gone,  

so I write a little summary about them.

"The used car" was a total disaster. I don't know anything about cars, even though I made a small research before the class. My partner was a real-life cars seller so everyone could imagine what would happen to me. He somehow went on me with the information about the price, which was $12.029 and that totally blew me off. I've given him a comparison to the Jeep Cherokee, but I really went to the role of the buyer and felt like "I really want that Pontiac!" That made me quite close-minded. I know I am a lot of emotional person, but this time I lost. So, putting that simple - I wasn't prepared enough.