Introduction

Many years ago, I attended a seminar for negotiation skills. The presenter began with a story that was meant to demonstrate the benefit and purpose of negotiation:

• Two chefs were preparing different dishes for a multi-course meal. There was only one orange left in the kitchen and both chefs needed it for their respective dishes. Each chef argued their case, without persuading the other. Finally, lacking any other solution, one of the chefs glumly took a knife and cut the orange in half. Neither chef was happy with the compromise but saw no alternative.
• The lesson of the story is that the first chef was a sous chef who needed the juice of the orange for a sauce he was making, and the second was a pastry chef who only needed the zest of that orange. Their inability to effectively negotiate resulted in a compromise that satisfied neither.

Basic principles to keep in mind

As the example above illustrates, the first principle anyone approaching negotiation should bear in mind is that negotiation is not the same thing as compromise. Rather, negotiation is a process whereby both parties can obtain a significant benefit without necessarily sacrificing any important interest. The second principle is that negotiation need not be an adversarial process; in fact, it works best in my experience where it is collaborative. The product of collaborative negotiations typically leads to longer-lasting, more stable results.

Being clear about your own objectives

Perhaps it seems obvious, but the first step for a negotiator is always to determine in some detail what the negotiator’s core objectives are in the negotiation. It is virtually impossible to achieve a successful negotiation without first correctly identifying those objectives. For example, suppose you are the licensor of a technology and a potential licensee has expressed in interest in licensing it. What are the benefits you need most from the potential arrangement? Is one of them the length of such a potential arrangement? Perhaps another is that you be able to publicize the relationship as a means to attract attention and secure other licenses. Likewise, it should also be possible to identify which issues are less important in this negotiation and therefore can be concessions, once the negotiation begins.

Determining objectives of negotiating partner

For many of the same reasons, learning the objectives of a negotiating partner is an important step in achieving a successful conclusion. Even if the partner is reluctant to directly state their objectives, it is possible sometimes to determine them simply by discussions with that partner. It is possible to draw inferences by the emphasis the partner places on certain issues, or the fact that the negotiating partner habitually returns to a topic more than any others. Alternatively, it may be possible to learn the other party’s objectives by publicly available information. In any case, there are two questions that a negotiator should consider during the preparation for and early stages of a negotiator, questions that give insight into the goals of the other party: “Why do they need this?” and “What is their best alternative to the transaction we will be negotiating”? The answers to both imply the other’s party’s objectives, and thus will guide you in reaching a successful conclusion to the negotiation.

Manner of negotiation

How negotiations are conducted can play a large role in whether a successful outcome results. If the process is collaborative – as the goal should be – then both negotiators are able to approach their discussions in a joint manner to find a solution that benefits both. As such, any sort of personal attacks or dramatic displays – even though those often are portrayed in media as successful negotiation ploys – play no role; in fact, when I’ve encountered them, I almost always interpret them as performances or as signs of weakness.

Conclusion

Once when I was a young lawyer, I was contemplating an upcoming and potentially difficult negotiation on behalf of a client. I sought the guidance of a mentor who was deeply experienced in the art of negotiation. His advice to me was: “Get as much as possible that is important to your guy while also making sure the other guy gets as much as is important for his client.” That is a wise distillation of the collaborative style of negotiation, and its value has been proven to me over and again in the decades since.