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Learning How to Learn to Negotiate
Scott R. Peppet & Michael L. Moffitt
Editors’ Note: At the outset of a book with many new ideas, this chapter can help the reader implement what you are about to read. Analyzing research on how we can learn to learn, the authors provide specific advice to negotiators and negotiation trainers. For those whose students—or colleagues—are more hardheaded than most, this chapter should be read in conjunction with Captive Audience by Kirschner and Cambria.
All of us negotiate all the time: at work, at home, with colleagues, counterparts, family, and friends. We hope that we learn from these experiences. We imagine that we are building our negotiation skills incrementally, so that over time we are becoming more capable negotiators.
But do these experiences help us to improve? Unfortunately, an honest assessment suggests that the answer is often “no.” Just as reading about negotiation theories is no guarantee of improvement, simply having more experience negotiating does not necessarily make someone a better negotiator. Instead, most of us seem to miss most of the learning opportunities we encounter.
This chapter explores three aspects of learning to negotiate. First, we discuss what it takes for negotiators to learn from their experiences. In particular, we argue that negotiators-in-training need access to high-quality data about their actual practices, and the impact of those practices. Negotiators also need a willingness to explore such data in ways that will expose their implicit, and sometimes unhelpful, action strategies for dealing with conflict or bargaining. Second, we argue that most negotiators do not expose themselves to such learning opportunities, largely for fear of what they might find out about themselves and their abilities. Instead, most of us shield ourselves from real learning, all the while telling ourselves and others that we are eager to find ways to learn and improve. Finally, we discuss what negotiators and negotiation teachers can do to overcome some of these barriers to getting better.
As a theoretical foundation for our observations about negotiators’ efforts at learning, we draw heavily from the work of Chris Argyris and his colleagues (1985). Argyris uses the umbrella term “Action Science”1 to describe the process of critically examining one’s own behavior in an effort to improve. Much of his work focuses on the learning behaviors of individuals in organizational settings: for example, exploring how managers learn and adapt their managerial practices. Here we apply some of his ideas to the question of how negotiators in all contexts can best learn from their experiences.
What it Takes to Learn to Negotiate (Well)
In the last several decades, negotiation scholars, teachers, and practitioners have developed robust advice on what it takes to negotiate well in varied circumstances. The negotiation literature has moved beyond lists of “dirty tricks” and now incorporates interdisciplinary research from economics, psychology, organizational behavior, and other fields to provide guidance for aspiring students of negotiation. Though not all theories of negotiation articulate advice in the same way, most share some common themes that we will not review in detail in this chapter: (1) search for underlying interests and potentially value-creating trades rather than take arbitrary haggling positions; (2) explore the other side’s perspective through listening and empathy even if you discover you disagree with it; (3) build a working relationship with the other side in order to deal with differences as they emerge; (4) manage your emotions to engage productively in the conversation rather than suppressing, ignoring, or unhelpfully amplifying feelings, etc.
The message in most negotiation courses today is that learning to negotiate requires learning to collaborate and problem-solve with others, despite severe differences. Strategy and self-interest do not disappear, but negotiation students often discover that they can accomplish more, and more easily, by fostering collaboration rather than turning every aspect of every negotiation into a zero-sum, escalatory, or haggling-type experience. In general, the message is that negotiators should be adept at multiple approaches to negotiation. The most skilled negotiators can determine when collaborative approaches make most sense, are able to...
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For full contents please purchase The Negotiator’s Desk Reference.
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References
Argyris, C. 1993. Knowledge for Action: A Guide to Overcoming Barriers to Organizational Change. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Argyris, C., R. Putnam and D. M. Smith. 1985. Action Science. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Argyris, C. 2000. Flawed Advice and the Management Trap: How Managers Can Know When They’re Getting Good Advice and When They’re Not. Oxford: New York.
Argyris, C. 1991. Teaching Smart People How to Learn. Harvard Business Review May-June Issue: 99-109.
Fisher, R. and W. Ury. 1981. Getting to Yes. Westminster: Penguin Group.
Imel, S. 1994. Guidelines for Working with Adult Learners. ERIC Digest No. 154.
Lax, D. and J. Sebenius. 1986. The Manager as Negotiator. New York, NY: The Free Press.
Menkel-Meadow, C. 1984. Toward Another View of Legal Negotiation: The Structure of Problem Solving. UCLA Law Review 31(4): 754-782.
Mnookin, R. H., S. R. Peppet and A. S. Tulumello. 1999. Beyond Winning: Negotiating to Create Value in Deals and Disputes. Cambridge: The Belknap Press.
Moffitt, M. 2004. Lights, Camera, Begin Final Exam: Testing What We Teach in Negotiation Courses. Journal of Legal Education 54(1): 91-114.
Moffitt, M. L. and S. R. Peppet. 2004. Action Science and Negotiation. Marquette Law Review 87(4): 649-654.
Peppet, S. R. 2002. Teaching Negotiating Using Web-Streaming Video. Negotiation Journal 18(3): 271-283.
Raiffa, H. 1985. The Art and Science of Negotiation. Cambridge: Belknap Press.
Rodgers, J. 1989. Adults Learning, 3rd edn. Buckingham: Open University Press.
Stone, D., B. Patton and S. Heen. 1999. Difficult Conversations: How to Discuss What Matters Most. New York, NY: Viking.
Stone, D. and S. Heen. 2005. From Bone Chips to Dinosaurs: Perceptions, Stories, and Conflict. In The Handbook of Dispute Resolution, edited by M. L. Moffitt and R. C. Bordone, 150-169. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Editors’ Note: At the outset of a book with many new ideas, this chapter can help the reader implement what you are about to read. Analyzing research on how we can learn to learn, the authors provide specific advice to negotiators and negotiation trainers. For those whose students—or colleagues—are more hardheaded than most, this chapter should be read in conjunction with Captive Audience by Kirschner and Cambria.
All of us negotiate all the time: at work, at home, with colleagues, counterparts, family, and friends. We hope that we learn from these experiences. We imagine that we are building our negotiation skills incrementally, so that over time we are becoming more capable negotiators.
But do these experiences help us to improve? Unfortunately, an honest assessment suggests that the answer is often “no.” Just as reading about negotiation theories is no guarantee of improvement, simply having more experience negotiating does not necessarily make someone a better negotiator. Instead, most of us seem to miss most of the learning opportunities we encounter.
This chapter explores three aspects of learning to negotiate. First, we discuss what it takes for negotiators to learn from their experiences. In particular, we argue that negotiators-in-training need access to high-quality data about their actual practices, and the impact of those practices. Negotiators also need a willingness to explore such data in ways that will expose their implicit, and sometimes unhelpful, action strategies for dealing with conflict or bargaining. Second, we argue that most negotiators do not expose themselves to such learning opportunities, largely for fear of what they might find out about themselves and their abilities. Instead, most of us shield ourselves from real learning, all the while telling ourselves and others that we are eager to find ways to learn and improve. Finally, we discuss what negotiators and negotiation teachers can do to overcome some of these barriers to getting better.
As a theoretical foundation for our observations about negotiators’ efforts at learning, we draw heavily from the work of Chris Argyris and his colleagues (1985). Argyris uses the umbrella term “Action Science”1 to describe the process of critically examining one’s own behavior in an effort to improve. Much of his work focuses on the learning behaviors of individuals in organizational settings: for example, exploring how managers learn and adapt their managerial practices. Here we apply some of his ideas to the question of how negotiators in all contexts can best learn from their experiences.
What it Takes to Learn to Negotiate (Well)
In the last several decades, negotiation scholars, teachers, and practitioners have developed robust advice on what it takes to negotiate well in varied circumstances. The negotiation literature has moved beyond lists of “dirty tricks” and now incorporates interdisciplinary research from economics, psychology, organizational behavior, and other fields to provide guidance for aspiring students of negotiation. Though not all theories of negotiation articulate advice in the same way, most share some common themes that we will not review in detail in this chapter: (1) search for underlying interests and potentially value-creating trades rather than take arbitrary haggling positions; (2) explore the other side’s perspective through listening and empathy even if you discover you disagree with it; (3) build a working relationship with the other side in order to deal with differences as they emerge; (4) manage your emotions to engage productively in the conversation rather than suppressing, ignoring, or unhelpfully amplifying feelings, etc.
The message in most negotiation courses today is that learning to negotiate requires learning to collaborate and problem-solve with others, despite severe differences. Strategy and self-interest do not disappear, but negotiation students often discover that they can accomplish more, and more easily, by fostering collaboration rather than turning every aspect of every negotiation into a zero-sum, escalatory, or haggling-type experience. In general, the message is that negotiators should be adept at multiple approaches to negotiation. The most skilled negotiators can determine when collaborative approaches make most sense, are able to...
----
For full contents please purchase The Negotiator’s Desk Reference.
----
References
Argyris, C. 1993. Knowledge for Action: A Guide to Overcoming Barriers to Organizational Change. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Argyris, C., R. Putnam and D. M. Smith. 1985. Action Science. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Argyris, C. 2000. Flawed Advice and the Management Trap: How Managers Can Know When They’re Getting Good Advice and When They’re Not. Oxford: New York.
Argyris, C. 1991. Teaching Smart People How to Learn. Harvard Business Review May-June Issue: 99-109.
Fisher, R. and W. Ury. 1981. Getting to Yes. Westminster: Penguin Group.
Imel, S. 1994. Guidelines for Working with Adult Learners. ERIC Digest No. 154.
Lax, D. and J. Sebenius. 1986. The Manager as Negotiator. New York, NY: The Free Press.
Menkel-Meadow, C. 1984. Toward Another View of Legal Negotiation: The Structure of Problem Solving. UCLA Law Review 31(4): 754-782.
Mnookin, R. H., S. R. Peppet and A. S. Tulumello. 1999. Beyond Winning: Negotiating to Create Value in Deals and Disputes. Cambridge: The Belknap Press.
Moffitt, M. 2004. Lights, Camera, Begin Final Exam: Testing What We Teach in Negotiation Courses. Journal of Legal Education 54(1): 91-114.
Moffitt, M. L. and S. R. Peppet. 2004. Action Science and Negotiation. Marquette Law Review 87(4): 649-654.
Peppet, S. R. 2002. Teaching Negotiating Using Web-Streaming Video. Negotiation Journal 18(3): 271-283.
Raiffa, H. 1985. The Art and Science of Negotiation. Cambridge: Belknap Press.
Rodgers, J. 1989. Adults Learning, 3rd edn. Buckingham: Open University Press.
Stone, D., B. Patton and S. Heen. 1999. Difficult Conversations: How to Discuss What Matters Most. New York, NY: Viking.
Stone, D. and S. Heen. 2005. From Bone Chips to Dinosaurs: Perceptions, Stories, and Conflict. In The Handbook of Dispute Resolution, edited by M. L. Moffitt and R. C. Bordone, 150-169. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.