Section V: Making Your Case
Making Your Case is about ensuring that however farsighted and generous you choose to be in a negotiation, your own needs are still met. This section begins with a chapter on productive ambition, or how to ensure that your aspirations are both high and attainable. This is followed by a chapter on six factors that influence whether you will get your way or not (all other things being equal), and another on how to distinguish between, and work with, two kinds of audiences which are responsive to completely different psychological approaches. We turn next to a chapter which boils down a bestseller into a brief treatment of how each party is likely to formulate (and believe) a completely different story of what is going on.
When the story your negotiation counterparts are telling themselves is one that you must challenge, the moves and turns that the discussion takes are likely to determine whether you get anywhere or not, and that is the next subject. Yet most negotiations, no matter how adroitly handled, include some element of uncertainty about the future. The section closes with an analysis of how you might think about uncertainty, and assess the risks.
23. Productive Ambition
Andrea Kupfer Schneider
When you set out to negotiate with someone, how do you evaluate what you’re really trying to achieve? Is it an unfocused want; something better than your BATNA; or anything you can get that’s above your reservation price? Schneider analyzes research showing that a conscious choice of goal helps you come out with more. Four keys to this are “making your reach a little longer than your arm”; setting goals you can justify in public without laughing or lying; making them specific; and paying real attention to goals which can’t be expressed in a number. It’s also helpful not to take yourself too seriously. Finally, Schneider argues that we need to get used to disappointment in order to achieve true success.
24. Getting Your Way
Chris Guthrie
Why is it that attractive or well-liked people tend to do better in negotiation? Guthrie explains how persuasion in negotiation works differently from persuasion in court. The psychology behind six different factors that tend to influence people is described: liking, social proof, commitment and consistency, reciprocity, authority, and scarcity all have consequences. Guthrie offers practical tips, exploring how lawyers and other negotiators can use these phenomena to influence their counterparts in negotiation.
25. The Psychology of Negotiation: Using Persuasion to Negotiate More Effectively
Donna Shestowsky
We know instinctively that not everyone is persuaded by the same set of facts or the same type of argument. Shestowsky explains the two different types of audiences we typically face in a negotiation, and provides pointers on how to persuade in the way that will be most effective to each audience. This chapter should be read in conjunction with Perceptions & Stories by Heen & Stone and Getting your Way by Guthrie.
26. Perceptions and Stories
Sheila Heen and Douglas Stone
Even when the parties basically recognize the same set of facts, there are often multiple versions of what actually happened. Why is this, and how do these different versions affect negotiations? This chapter demonstrates how each side’s version of “the story” in a negotiation needs to be understood, if the other side is to be persuaded to make any significant step toward an agreement.
27. Power at Play in Negotiation: Moves and Turns
Deborah Kolb and Jessica Porter
Workplace negotiations take place in many forms, including informal “n-negotiations” which help people create buy-in for their ideas, advocate for new projects and opportunities, develop new work schedules, and get credit (and compensation) for their work. When we negotiate over these issues, we are likely to encounter resistance from others who may be quite content with current operations. Kolb and Porter examine the types of strategic moves people use in these “n-negotiations”, which can put others in a defensive position, and how those moves can play on social identity stereotypes and reinforce power dynamics in the workplace. The authors offer strategies for turning moves to maintain power and to shift negotiations to create moments of learning and transformation.
28. Decisionmaking under Uncertainty
Jeffrey Senger
Should I accept this offer? How can I measure the real value of a settlement offer now, versus the possibility of a much larger verdict years in the future? Here, a highly experienced attorney who has both tried and settled many complex cases explains how risk analysis helps us estimate outcomes with more accuracy, and make better decisions. Initially, he wrote from the viewpoint of a Government lawyer with agencies as clients. More recently he has spent seven years as a partner in a large law firm. This has led to further thoughts on the differences between how public and private sector actors perceive uncertainty—and risk.
When the story your negotiation counterparts are telling themselves is one that you must challenge, the moves and turns that the discussion takes are likely to determine whether you get anywhere or not, and that is the next subject. Yet most negotiations, no matter how adroitly handled, include some element of uncertainty about the future. The section closes with an analysis of how you might think about uncertainty, and assess the risks.
23. Productive Ambition
Andrea Kupfer Schneider
When you set out to negotiate with someone, how do you evaluate what you’re really trying to achieve? Is it an unfocused want; something better than your BATNA; or anything you can get that’s above your reservation price? Schneider analyzes research showing that a conscious choice of goal helps you come out with more. Four keys to this are “making your reach a little longer than your arm”; setting goals you can justify in public without laughing or lying; making them specific; and paying real attention to goals which can’t be expressed in a number. It’s also helpful not to take yourself too seriously. Finally, Schneider argues that we need to get used to disappointment in order to achieve true success.
24. Getting Your Way
Chris Guthrie
Why is it that attractive or well-liked people tend to do better in negotiation? Guthrie explains how persuasion in negotiation works differently from persuasion in court. The psychology behind six different factors that tend to influence people is described: liking, social proof, commitment and consistency, reciprocity, authority, and scarcity all have consequences. Guthrie offers practical tips, exploring how lawyers and other negotiators can use these phenomena to influence their counterparts in negotiation.
25. The Psychology of Negotiation: Using Persuasion to Negotiate More Effectively
Donna Shestowsky
We know instinctively that not everyone is persuaded by the same set of facts or the same type of argument. Shestowsky explains the two different types of audiences we typically face in a negotiation, and provides pointers on how to persuade in the way that will be most effective to each audience. This chapter should be read in conjunction with Perceptions & Stories by Heen & Stone and Getting your Way by Guthrie.
26. Perceptions and Stories
Sheila Heen and Douglas Stone
Even when the parties basically recognize the same set of facts, there are often multiple versions of what actually happened. Why is this, and how do these different versions affect negotiations? This chapter demonstrates how each side’s version of “the story” in a negotiation needs to be understood, if the other side is to be persuaded to make any significant step toward an agreement.
27. Power at Play in Negotiation: Moves and Turns
Deborah Kolb and Jessica Porter
Workplace negotiations take place in many forms, including informal “n-negotiations” which help people create buy-in for their ideas, advocate for new projects and opportunities, develop new work schedules, and get credit (and compensation) for their work. When we negotiate over these issues, we are likely to encounter resistance from others who may be quite content with current operations. Kolb and Porter examine the types of strategic moves people use in these “n-negotiations”, which can put others in a defensive position, and how those moves can play on social identity stereotypes and reinforce power dynamics in the workplace. The authors offer strategies for turning moves to maintain power and to shift negotiations to create moments of learning and transformation.
28. Decisionmaking under Uncertainty
Jeffrey Senger
Should I accept this offer? How can I measure the real value of a settlement offer now, versus the possibility of a much larger verdict years in the future? Here, a highly experienced attorney who has both tried and settled many complex cases explains how risk analysis helps us estimate outcomes with more accuracy, and make better decisions. Initially, he wrote from the viewpoint of a Government lawyer with agencies as clients. More recently he has spent seven years as a partner in a large law firm. This has led to further thoughts on the differences between how public and private sector actors perceive uncertainty—and risk.
Section V authors:
Chris Guthrie is the Dean and John Wade-Kent Syverud Professor of Law at Vanderbilt Law School.
Sheila Heen is a Founder of Triad Consulting, a Lecturer on Law at Harvard Law School, and co-author of two New York Times Bestsellers, Difficult Conversations: How to Discuss What Matters Most (Penguin 1999) and Thanks for the Feedback (Penguin 2014). In private practice she helps executives navigate strong disagreement to make tough decisions while preserving relationships with each other, with employees, and with clients. Her public sector work has included work in Barrow, Alaska with the Inupiat Eskimos who own the North Slope, in Cyprus with Greek and Turkish Cypriots, and at the U. S. White House. She can be reached at heen@post.harvard.edu.
Deborah Kolb is Deloitte Ellen Gabriel Professor for Women and Leadership (Emerita) and the co-founder of the Center for Gender in Organizations at the Simmons College School of Management. She is an authority on gender issues in negotiation and leadership and the author of several books on the subject. Her most recent, Negotiating at Work: Turn Small Wins into Big Gains, was named by Time.com as one of the best negotiation books of
2015. Deborah received her Ph.D. from MIT’s Sloan School of Management.
Jessica Porter is a writer and researcher who consults with organizations around issues of leadership development, gender and diversity, and creating change. She is the co-author of Negotiating at Work: Turn Small Wins into Big Gains and was the lead researcher of Sleeping with Your Smartphone: How to Break the 24/7 Habit and Change the Way You Work, by Leslie Perlow. Jessica is a doctoral student at Antioch University, studying Leadership and Change.
Andrea Kupfer Schneider is a Professor of Law at Marquette University Law School, where she teaches Dispute Resolution, Negotiation, Ethics, and International Conflict Resolution and is the director of Marquette’s nationally-ranked dispute resolution program. Professor Schneider has written numerous books, book chapters and articles on negotiation skills and styles, dispute system design, international conflict, and gender and negotiation. She was named the Outstanding Scholar by the ABA Section of Dispute Resolution for 2017. Professor Schneider received her A.B. cum laude from the Woodrow Wilson School of International Affairs and Public Policy at Princeton University and her J.D. cum laude from Harvard Law School.
Jeff Senger is a partner at Sidley Austin, handling litigation and FDA matters. He previously served as FDA’s Acting General Counsel. He was a litigator with the United States Department of Justice, a special assistant United States Attorney, and the leader of DOJ’s Office of Dispute Resolution. He wrote an award-winning book, Federal Dispute Resolution (Wiley 2003); taught trial advocacy, mediation, and negotiation at Harvard Law School; testified as an expert witness on dispute resolution before the United States Congress; and spoke about mediation on five continents. He is an honors graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School.
Dr. Donna Shestowsky is Professor of Law at the University of California, Davis. She earned a J.D. and Ph.D. (Psychology) from Stanford University, and a B.A. and MS. (Psychology) from Yale University. She is the Principal Investigator of a research initiative, funded by the National Science Foundation and ABA, which examines how litigants evaluate procedures. Her commentary has appeared in national sources such as CNN, NPR, and the New York Times.
Douglas Stone is a Founder of Triad Consulting and a Lecturer on Law at Harvard. He consults for a broad range of organizations, including Merck, Honda, Fidelity, the W.H.O. and at the U. S. White House, and lectures widely on leadership, negotiation, and communication. Doug is co-author of Difficult Conversations (Penguin 1999), which is available in 25 languages and is a New York Times Business Bestseller. This book is used as the standard communication text in many business and law schools, and organizations around the world. Doug is also co-author of the bestselling Thanks for the Feedback. He can be reached at dstone@post.harvard.edu.
Chris Guthrie is the Dean and John Wade-Kent Syverud Professor of Law at Vanderbilt Law School.
Sheila Heen is a Founder of Triad Consulting, a Lecturer on Law at Harvard Law School, and co-author of two New York Times Bestsellers, Difficult Conversations: How to Discuss What Matters Most (Penguin 1999) and Thanks for the Feedback (Penguin 2014). In private practice she helps executives navigate strong disagreement to make tough decisions while preserving relationships with each other, with employees, and with clients. Her public sector work has included work in Barrow, Alaska with the Inupiat Eskimos who own the North Slope, in Cyprus with Greek and Turkish Cypriots, and at the U. S. White House. She can be reached at heen@post.harvard.edu.
Deborah Kolb is Deloitte Ellen Gabriel Professor for Women and Leadership (Emerita) and the co-founder of the Center for Gender in Organizations at the Simmons College School of Management. She is an authority on gender issues in negotiation and leadership and the author of several books on the subject. Her most recent, Negotiating at Work: Turn Small Wins into Big Gains, was named by Time.com as one of the best negotiation books of
2015. Deborah received her Ph.D. from MIT’s Sloan School of Management.
Jessica Porter is a writer and researcher who consults with organizations around issues of leadership development, gender and diversity, and creating change. She is the co-author of Negotiating at Work: Turn Small Wins into Big Gains and was the lead researcher of Sleeping with Your Smartphone: How to Break the 24/7 Habit and Change the Way You Work, by Leslie Perlow. Jessica is a doctoral student at Antioch University, studying Leadership and Change.
Andrea Kupfer Schneider is a Professor of Law at Marquette University Law School, where she teaches Dispute Resolution, Negotiation, Ethics, and International Conflict Resolution and is the director of Marquette’s nationally-ranked dispute resolution program. Professor Schneider has written numerous books, book chapters and articles on negotiation skills and styles, dispute system design, international conflict, and gender and negotiation. She was named the Outstanding Scholar by the ABA Section of Dispute Resolution for 2017. Professor Schneider received her A.B. cum laude from the Woodrow Wilson School of International Affairs and Public Policy at Princeton University and her J.D. cum laude from Harvard Law School.
Jeff Senger is a partner at Sidley Austin, handling litigation and FDA matters. He previously served as FDA’s Acting General Counsel. He was a litigator with the United States Department of Justice, a special assistant United States Attorney, and the leader of DOJ’s Office of Dispute Resolution. He wrote an award-winning book, Federal Dispute Resolution (Wiley 2003); taught trial advocacy, mediation, and negotiation at Harvard Law School; testified as an expert witness on dispute resolution before the United States Congress; and spoke about mediation on five continents. He is an honors graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School.
Dr. Donna Shestowsky is Professor of Law at the University of California, Davis. She earned a J.D. and Ph.D. (Psychology) from Stanford University, and a B.A. and MS. (Psychology) from Yale University. She is the Principal Investigator of a research initiative, funded by the National Science Foundation and ABA, which examines how litigants evaluate procedures. Her commentary has appeared in national sources such as CNN, NPR, and the New York Times.
Douglas Stone is a Founder of Triad Consulting and a Lecturer on Law at Harvard. He consults for a broad range of organizations, including Merck, Honda, Fidelity, the W.H.O. and at the U. S. White House, and lectures widely on leadership, negotiation, and communication. Doug is co-author of Difficult Conversations (Penguin 1999), which is available in 25 languages and is a New York Times Business Bestseller. This book is used as the standard communication text in many business and law schools, and organizations around the world. Doug is also co-author of the bestselling Thanks for the Feedback. He can be reached at dstone@post.harvard.edu.