Introduction:

It’sYourMove

At theWhartonSchool, I teachnegotiation tosomeof thebestandbrightestbusinesspeopleintheworld—bothstudentsandexecutives.Ialsoserveastheacademic director for a week-long negotiation program for senior managerscalled the “Wharton Executive Negotiation Workshop: Bargaining forAdvantage.”Butdespitethesecredentials,Ihavetoadmitthatbargainingcanmake me a little anxious. In fact, sometimes I do not even realize I amnegotiatingatall—untilitistoolate.Forexample,notlongago,Iwassittingatthedinnertablewithmyfamily

when the telephone rang. I answered. It was a neighbor’s teenage daughter,Emily.“I’mraisingmoneyforourschoolsoftball teamsowecan takea trip this

wintertoplayinatournament,”sheexplained.“We’resellingcitrusfruitslikeorangesandgrapefruits.Wouldyouliketobuysome?”WearefriendswithEmily’sfamilyandhaveknownhersinceshewasfour.

Naturally,Iwantedtohelpout.“Tellmeaboutit,”Isaid.Sheexplainedthevariouspackagesandprices:$11forthesmallsampler,$20

forapackagewithmoregrapefruit,$35forthegrandcollection.Ifoundmyselfwonderingwhereweweregoingtostore$35worthofcitrusfruit.“OK,”Isaidattheendofthepitch.“I’lltaketheeleven-dollarpackage.”Just thenmywife,Robbie,gotmyattention.“AskEmilyabout theguinea

pig!”shesaid.Ilookedpuzzled.My older son, Ben, joined in a little more loudly: “Ned’s guinea pig,” he

explained.“See ifshecan takecareofNed’sguineapig thisweekendwhilewe’re away.” Our eight-year-old had recently acquired a pet guinea pig thatneededasitterforthefast-approachingThanksgivingweekend.“Ah!” I said. I got back onto the phone. “Are you going to be here this

weekend?”Iasked.“Yes,”camethereply.“CouldyoutakecareofNed’snewguineapigforus?We’llbeinNewYork

andneedtofindherahome.”“Noproblem,”sherepliedbrightly.Thenshewentonwithoutmissingabeat:

“Inthatcase,doyouthinkyoucouldbuythetwenty-dollarpackage?”Itwasmymove.“Sure,”Isaidwithalaugh.“We’lltakethetwenty-dollar

package.”Negotiations—fromthemegamergersonWallStreet tobudgetmeetingsat

worktoeverydayencountersathome—takeunexpectedturnsandinvolvehighstakessooftenthatmanygraduateprofessionalschoolsintheUnitedStatesnowoffersemester-longcoursesonthesubject.Infact,theyaresomeofthemostsought-aftercoursesintheentirecurriculum.Why?Becausestudentsenteringprofessional life—whether in business, law, medicine, education, politics, orpublicadministration—areanxiousaboutnegotiationandwanttoimprovetheirskills.Theyknowtheywillfaceallsortsofnegotiationchallengesintheirfuturerolesasbusinessandprofessionalleaders,andtheywanttoreplacetheiranxietywithgreaterconfidence.These students are acting wisely because anxiety hampers negotiation

performanceinpredictableways.It interfereswithourabilitytothinkonourfeet and narrows our perspective about the problem we are solving. Mostcritically,anxietyleadsmanyreasonablepeopletoseeksimplisticanswerstothequestion“HowshouldInegotiate?”Theygraspatphraseslike“win-win”and“win-lose,” hoping these formulas will explain what negotiation is about.Anxiousnegotiatorssearchforsingle,one-size-fits-allstrategiesthatwillgivethemafeelingofcontrolovertheprocess.But theseattempts tosimplifynegotiations justdon’twork.First,alldeals

thatclosearewin-windeals.Thetwosideswouldnotagreetoaproposalunlesstheythoughtagreementwasbetterforthemthannodeal.Second,“win-lose”isoften just a label we give a deal when we don’t like the way the other sidetreatedus.Finally,all-purposestrategiesareanillusion.Experiencednegotiatorsknow that there are too many situational and personal variables for a singlestrategytoworkinallcases.Tobecomemoreeffective,youneedtogetbeyondsimplenegotiationideas

suchasthese.Youneedtoconfrontyouranxieties,acceptthefactthatnotwonegotiatorsandsituationsarethesame,andlearntoadapttothesedifferencesrealistically and intelligently—while maintaining your ethics and self-respect.Andtoachievethesegoalsyouneedsomethingmorethansimplephrases;youneed a confident attitude based on tested and reliable knowledge about thenegotiationprocess.Suchknowledgeisathand—thelast twenty-fiveyearshasseenaveritable

explosionofnegotiationresearchandwriting—butitisrelativelyinaccessible.

Negotiationscholarspublishtheirfindingsonnegotiationinacademicjournalsand books that most real-world negotiators do not read. And it is hard forreasonablepeopletosiftthegoodadvicefromthebadinthepopularwritingonbargaining. Just because a technique works well for a sports celebrity orHollywoodagentdoesnotmeanitwillworkforyou.

LookInsideYourToolbox:It’sYourMove

ThisiswhyIwroteBargainingforAdvantage.InmyworkattheWhartonSchool, I have canvassed both the academic and popular literatures onbargaining in search of ideas and approaches that dependably help peopleachieve superior results at the bargaining table. And I have organized thisknowledgeinastraightforwardwaysobusypeoplecanuseit.Myapproachtonegotiationstartswithyou.Myownexperienceandalotof

researchtellmethatyoualreadyhavewhatittakestobeacompetentnegotiator.Youhaveasetoftoolsinyourownpersonalnegotiation“toolbox.”Thesamebasiccommunicationandcognitiveskillsthatgotyouwhereyouaretoday—advancingtowardyourpersonalandprofessionalgoals—aretheonesneededtonegotiateeffectively.Andeveryone—regardlessoftheircurrentskilllevel—canimprove their performance by identifying their strengths and weaknesses,planningmorecarefullyandsharpeningtheirtoolsthroughpractice.Many people are naturally accommodating and cooperative; others are

basically competitive; some are equally effective using either approach. Butthereisonlyonetruthaboutasuccessfulbargainingstyle:Tobegood,youmustlearntobeyourselfatthebargainingtable.Tricksandstratagemsthatdon’tfeelcomfortablewon’twork.Besides,whileyouareworryingaboutyournexttactic,theotherpartyisgivingawayvitalcluesandinformationthatyouaremissing.To negotiate well, you do not need to be tricky. But it helps to be alert andprudent. The best negotiators play it straight, ask a lot of questions, listencarefully, and concentrate on what they and the other party are trying toaccomplishatthebargainingtable.Negotiation is not rocket science, but it is not simple intuition either. No

matter who you are, your intuition will fail you in important bargainingsituations.Toimprove,youneedtoshedyourassumptionsabouttheprocessandopenyourselftonewideas.Mostofall,youmustlearntorecognizethehiddenpsychologicalstrategiesthatplaysuchimportantrolesintheprocess.Forexample,asthisbookwillshowyou,skillednegotiatorsseemorethan

justopeningoffers,counteroffers,andclosingmoveswhentheylookatwhathappensatthebargainingtable.Theyseepsychologicalandstrategiccurrentsthatarerunningjustbelowthesurface.Theynoticewherethepartiesstandinterms of the reciprocity norm. They look for opportunities to use whatpsychologistscalltheconsistencyprincipletocommitotherpartiestostandardsandthenholdthemtotheirpriorstatementsorpositions,andtheyknowthatthetimingofaproposalisalmostasimportantasitscontent.Peopleneedtofeeltheyhave“earned”concessionsevenwhenyouarewillingtogivethemawayforfree.Knowledgeoftheseandotherpatternsembeddedinthenegotiationprocess

helpexperiencednegotiatorsstructuretheirproposalsandpredictwhattheotherparty will do next. Once you learn to see these and similar features of thebargaininglandscape,youtoowillbeableto“read”bargainingsituationsmoreaccuratelyandmakeyourmoveswithmoreconfidence.

TheApproach:Information-BasedBargaining

I call my approach to negotiation Information-Based Bargaining. Thisapproach focuses on three main aspects of negotiation: solid planning andpreparationbeforeyoustart,carefullisteningsoyoucanfindoutwhattheothersidereallywants,andattendingtothe“signals”theotherpartysendsthroughhisor her conduct once bargaining gets under way. As the name suggests,Information-Based Bargaining involves getting as much reliable knowledgeaboutthesituationandotherpartyaspossible.My approach focuses on six factors or, as I call them, Foundations, of

effectivenegotiation.TheseSixFoundations,whichmakeupPartIofthebook,are:yourpersonalbargainingstyles,yourgoalsandexpectations,authoritativestandardsandnorms,relationships, theotherparty’s interests,andthediverseingredients thatgo into thatmost importantofallbargainingassets: leverage(this idea is explained in detail in Chapter 6). With information on thesefoundations in hand, you are ready to move down the predictable path thatnegotiations follow, from the creation of a bargaining plan to preliminaryexchangesofinformationtoexplicit,back-and-forthbargaining,andfinallytotheclosingandcommitmentstage.PartIIofthebookwillwalkyouthroughthisfour-stageprocessstepbystep.Information-BasedBargainingisa“skepticalschool”ofnegotiation.Ittreats

eachsituationandpersonyoufaceasunique.Itcautionsagainstmakingoverly

confident assumptions about what others want or what might be motivatingthem.Anditemphasizes“situationalstrategies”tailoredtothefactsofeachcaseratherthanasingle,one-size-fits-allformula.To help you learn, the book illustrates the principles of Information-Based

Bargainingwithstoriesfromthelivesofsomeofthebestnegotiatorswhoeverlived.Youwillstudybargainingstrategiesusedbysuccessfulpeoplefrommanyculturesanderas,includingSonyCorporation’slegendaryfounderAkioMorita,AmericantycoonssuchasJ.P.Morgan,JohnD.Rockefeller,Sr.,andAndrewCarnegie; modern deal makers H. Wayne Huizenga, and Donald Trump;historicalfiguressuchasMahatmaGandhiandBenjaminFranklin;andavarietyoflesswell-knownbutequallytalentedbusinesspeopleandcommunityleaders.Youwillseehowtheseexpertssucceededand,justasimportant,learnhowtheysometimesfailed.Such role models can teach us a lot, but even more important than their

experiences are their attitudes about negotiation. The best negotiators treatbargaining seriously, but they also keep a professional perspective. They canalwayswalkaway.Theymaintaintheirbalancenomatterwhattheothersidedoes, respond promptly to the other party’s maneuvers, and keep movingpatientlyandpersistentlytowardtheirgoals.The best negotiators also have explicit ethical guidelines for their own

conductatthetable,regardlessofwhatothersmaydo.Theyknowwhichmovesarewithinthe“rulesofthegame”andwhichoneslieoutsideethicalboundaries.Tobetrulyeffective,youwillneedtodevelopyourownideasaboutbargainingethics;Chapter11providesaframeworkforyoutobeginthinkingabout thisimportanttopic.

YouCanLearnOnlybyDoing

AttheWhartonExecutiveNegotiationWorkshop,IamfondofquotingaNewYork lawyer and deal maker named James C. Freund. Freund has written anumberofbooksonbusinessmergersaswellasnegotiations.Heoncestatedthat“inthelastanalysis,youcannotlearnnegotiationfromabook.Youmustactuallynegotiate.”Iagree.Thisbookisaguidetobetternegotiationpractice—notasubstitute

forit.Sotaketheknowledgeyoufindhereandbuildyourownfoundationsforan effective style. Consider every bargaining opportunity a “laboratory” toimproveyourskills.Asyougainexperienceandconfidence,youwilldiscover

that negotiations will cease being anxiety-filled encounters. Instead, they willbecomeenjoyable—andprofitable—challenges.