Getting to Yes part 2

Getting to Yes part 2

1. What If They Use Dirty Tricks?

   • There are many tactics and tricks people can use to try to take advantage of you. Everyone knows some of them. They range from lies and psychological abuse to various forms of pressure tactics. They may be illegal, unethical, or simply unpleasant. Their purpose is to help the user "win" some substantive gain in an unprincipled contest of will. Such tactics may be called tricky bargaining.
     • How do you negotiate about the rules of the game?
       • There are three steps in negotiating the rules of the negotiating game where the other side seems to be using a tricky tactic: recognize the tactic, raise the issue explicitly, and question the tactic's legitimacy and desirability — negotiate over it. You have to know what is going on to be able to do something about it. Learn to spot particular ploys that indicate deception, those designed to make you uncomfortable, and those which lock the other side into their position
     • Separate the people from the problem
       • Don't attack people personally for using a tactic you consider illegitimate. If they get defensive it may be more difficult for them to give up the tactic, and they may be left with a residue of anger that will fester and interfere with other issues.
         • Focus on interests, not positions.
         • Invent options for mutual gain
         • Insist on using objective criteria
     • Some common tricky tactics
       • Tricky tactics can be divided into three categories: deliberate deception, psychological 66 warfare, and positional pressure tactics.
     • Deliberate deception
       • Separate the people from the problem. Unless you have good reason to trust somebody, don't. This does not mean calling him a liar; rather it means making the negotiation proceed independent of trust.
     • Less than full disclosure is not the same as deception
       • Deliberate deception as to facts or one's intentions is quite different from not fully disclosing one's present thinking. Good faith negotiation does not require total disclosure.
     • Psychological warfare
       • These tactics are designed to make you feel uncomfortable, so that you will have a subconscious desire to end the negotiation as soon as possible.
     • Stressful situations
       • Much has been written about the physical circumstances in which negotiations take place. You should be sensitive to such modest questions as whether a meeting takes place at your place or theirs, or on neutral territory
     • Personal attacks
       • They can imply that you are ignorant. They can refuse to listen to you and make you repeat yourself. They can deliberately refuse to make eye contact with you. In each case recognizing the tactic will help nullify its effect; bringing it up explicitly will probably prevent a recurrence.
     • The good-guy/bad-guy routine
       • is a form of psychological manipulation. If you recognize it, you won't be taken in.
     • Threats
       • Are one of the most abused tactics in negotiation. A threat seems easy to make — much easier than an offer. All it takes is a few words, and if it works, you never have to carry it out. Threats are pressure. Pressure often accomplishes just the opposite of what it is intended to do; it builds up pressure the other way
     • Positional pressure tactics
       • This kind of bargaining tactic is designed to structure the situation so that only one side can effectively make concessions.
     • Refusal to negotiate
       • recognize the tactic as a possible negotiating ploy: an attempt to use their entry into 69 negotiation as a bargaining chip to obtain some concession on substance. A variant on this ploy is to set preconditions for negotiations.
     • Hardhearted partner
       • Recognize the tactic. Rather than discussing it with the other negotiator, you may want to get his agreement to the principle involved
     • A calculated delay
       • Labor negotiators will often delay until the last few hours before a strike deadline, relying on the psychological pressure of the deadline to make management more malleable. Unfortunately, they often miscalculate and the strike deadline passes. Once the strike begins, management, in turn, may decide to wait for a more favorable time, such as when the union's strike fund has run out. Waiting for the right time is a high-cost game
     • "Take it or leave it."
       • Actic and negotiating about it, consider ignoring it at first. Keep talking as if you didn't hear it, or change the subject, perhaps by introducing other solutions. If you do bring up the tactic specifically, let them know what they have to lose if no agreement is reached and look for a face-saving way, such as a change in circumstances, for them to get out of the situation
     • Don't be a victim
       • People draw the line in different places. It may help to ask yourself such questions

2. In conclusion

   • Three Points
     • You knew it all the time
       • The more consistent these ideas are with your knowledge and intuition the better
     • Learn from doing
       • A book can point you in a promising direction. By making you aware of ideas and aware of what you are doing, it can help you learn.
     • "Winning"
       • How to achieve a better process for dealing with your differences. To be better, the process must, of course, produce good substantive results; winning on the merits may not be the only goal, but certainly losing is not the answer.
         • it should prove more efficient and less costly to human relationships. We find the method comfortable to use and hope you will too. That does not mean it is easy to change habits, to disentangle emotions from the merits, or 72 to enlist others in the task of working out a wise solution to a shared problem.