Rss Description for blog https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/ Mon, 27 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT Mon, 27 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT Brian Buck There’s a moment in almost every significant negotiation when someone plants a flag: “Before we go any further, you need to do this.” A precondition to continue a negotiation. This standoff can be frustrating to deal with, but it’s not impossible to overcome. Here are 5 approaches that can help you get past preconditions https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2026/game-of-chicken-negotiations/ Fri, 24 Apr 2026 20:49:06 GMT 7087 Brian Buck Within the span of two weeks, I had nearly identical conversations with two leaders — one in sourcing, the other in sales, but the complaint was the same: Their frustration was that their teams were using AI as a substitute for judgment rather than a tool to sharpen it. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2026/lazy-is-still-lazy/ Sat, 18 Apr 2026 00:52:38 GMT 7082 Brian Buck There’s a moment most negotiators recognize. They’re in the middle of a difficult conversation, things are moving in the right direction. Then someone walks in. Some negotiators start performing in order to look strong. But looking strong and reaching a deal aren't the same thing https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2026/when-the-room-becomes-the-problem/ Fri, 10 Apr 2026 18:58:46 GMT 7080 Gaëtan Pellerin If you think people pleasers automatically strengthen negotiations, you’re wrong. Yes, they believe in the value of protecting relationships (and that’s good), but the choices that come from this urge frequently do more damage to outcomes than most negotiators realize https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2026/the-truth-about-people-pleasers-in-negotiations/ Fri, 03 Apr 2026 18:10:04 GMT 7078 Brian Buck Every baseball fan starts the season with hope. Every team has a path to the World Series. There’s something irrational about it, but that’s part of the fun. Then the season begins. Hope starts to shift from “Let’s win it all!” to what's more realistic. Negotiations follow the same pattern. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2026/play-ball/ Fri, 27 Mar 2026 21:21:26 GMT 7076 Brian Buck March Madness has a way of capturing attention unlike almost anything else. It’s often suggested that US businesses lose billions of dollars in productivity during the tournament as work competes with a compelling distraction. For the most part, this is harmless. But in situations like negotiations distraction has meaningful consequences. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2026/negotiation-march-madness/ Fri, 20 Mar 2026 18:46:30 GMT 7074 Brian Buck The way you enter a room, the energy you bring, whether you seem tense or grounded — it all communicates to the other side before a single word is spoken. And it informs whether the conversation will be collaborative or combative. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2026/your-attitude-is-your-first-negotiation/ Fri, 13 Mar 2026 21:40:15 GMT 7072 Gaëtan Pellerin “Are you an industry expert?” As a negotiation consultant, I hear that a lot, and it highlights something important: Most organizations assume that hiring someone from their own industry gives them a competitive advantage at the negotiating table. But, does it? https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2026/do-you-really-need-an-industry-expert/ Fri, 06 Mar 2026 23:56:45 GMT 7070 Brian Buck Imagine meeting, and the other side says, “We might owe you money. We’re not sure how much, or when and how we'll pay.” That’s essentially where American businesses find themselves now with tariffs. Deals can stall because critical questions simply can’t be answered in the moment. Waiting for certainty is its own decision...and rarely a good one. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2026/the-133-billion-question/ Fri, 27 Feb 2026 17:54:30 GMT 7066 Brian Buck The US Olympic bobsled team had a catastrophic start recently. Three members failed to load into the sled. They just . . . didn’t get in. Which left one guy doing a job (at 90 mph!) that requires four people. They intended to work as a team, but it just didn’t happen https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2026/gold-medal-team-negotiations/ Fri, 20 Feb 2026 20:30:06 GMT 7064 Brian Buck Late-stage negotiations are often defined by tension. The broad contours of the deal are clear. The economics are understood. Each side knows roughly where the other stands. Still, progress can stall https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2026/too-much-flexibility-kills-deals/ Fri, 13 Feb 2026 19:54:59 GMT 7062 Kirbi Isaac When negotiators hear an ask we don’t like, we contest it, reduce it, or make it go away entirely. In practice, that reaction often does the opposite of what we intend: It hardens positions and turns a workable negotiation into a standoff https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2026/stop-fighting-the-ask-start-using-it/ Fri, 06 Feb 2026 20:16:24 GMT 7060 Brian Buck When we decided to host a webinar on using AI in negotiations, we knew that nearly everyone in our audience was already experimenting with it. We also knew that very few people felt confident that they were using it safely or in a way that actually improved results. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2026/using-ai-in-your-negotiations-a-reality-check/ Fri, 30 Jan 2026 20:03:39 GMT 7056 Brian Buck Negotiation isn’t always about what you do when everything goes right. It’s often about what you do when everything goes sideways. Let’s talk about what to do when your plans get disrupted, whether by a winter storm, a supplier issue, a budget cut, or the client suddenly saying, “We need this by Friday.” (Why do they always need it by Friday?) https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2026/forecast-100-chance-of-chaos/ Fri, 23 Jan 2026 22:35:22 GMT 7050 Brian Buck I like to cook, and I was feeling pretty good about my skills . . . until my team cooked alongside professional chefs. It seemed easy, until the chefs started checking in on us. Like any professional skill, experience changes everything. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2026/the-chef-effect/ Fri, 16 Jan 2026 21:40:17 GMT 7048 Gaëtan Pellerin Recently, I had lunch with a friend who’s a senior executive. We talked about how to be flexible in a negotiation. “My friend suddenly asked, 'Is being flexible a good thing? In my organization, giving in to the other side’s demands is viewed as a sign of weakness.” https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2026/is-being-flexible-a-weakness/ Sat, 10 Jan 2026 00:08:47 GMT 7046 Brian Buck Looking back, 2025 was a turbulent year for many negotiators. For many businesses, that uncertainty led to delayed decisions, postponed investments, and a more risk-averse posture. However, the challenges of 2025 could very well create meaningful opportunities in 2026. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2026/welcome-to-2026/ Sat, 03 Jan 2026 23:35:15 GMT 7044 Brian Buck When people imagine a competitive negotiation, they often envision a high-stakes standoff: two sides digging in, doing whatever they can to win. The idea of a win-win outcome seems unrealistic. If everyone is playing hardball, isn’t someone destined to lose? Not necessarily. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2025/is-a-competitive-win-win-possible/ Sat, 10 Jan 2026 00:07:46 GMT 7040 Brian Buck I’ve watched it happen more times than I can count: A team runs a perfect race in a negotiation, then, as soon as the finish line is in view, it’s like they forget how to run. Their focus shifts to “just getting it done.” They start giving away things they don’t need to or negotiating against themselves. We call this “deal-focused.” It’s that intense pull that says, “I just want to close this thing,” and suddenly discipline evaporates. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2025/don-t-stumble-at-the-finish-line/ Fri, 28 Nov 2025 04:27:35 GMT 7038 Brian Buck Thanksgiving dinner is frequently better the second time around. The flavors settle, the seasoning evens out — the encore can be as satisfying as opening night. Negotiations work the same way. We often perceive the “main event” — the meeting, the deal, the signature — as the finish line. In reality, what happens after everyone gets up from the table is critical https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2025/leftovers-are-the-encore/ Fri, 21 Nov 2025 17:14:55 GMT 7035 Brian Buck I couldn’t resist tossing in a quip: “Good luck with that!” Everyone stopped. My daughter turned to me and asked, “What do you mean?” I hesitated, slightly bewildered. I realized my harmless comment, meant as a playful aside in the bacon conversation, carried more weight than I intended. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2025/when-words-mean-more-than-we-intend/ Fri, 14 Nov 2025 15:14:02 GMT 7033 Brian Buck November 4, 2025 was an unusual Election Day. Typically, Election Day after a Presidential contest is a non-event — one that barely gets covered in the news. But not this one. Leading up to the election, signs went up and ads went out to the familiar refrain of “us vs. them.” https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2025/when-collaboration-fails/ Fri, 07 Nov 2025 18:32:01 GMT 7031 Brian Buck The Supreme Court is about to start hearing arguments about a case that could reshape not just US trade policy, but the very way the United States negotiates with the world. This isn’t only a legal battle. It’s a negotiation about power itself — who controls the first move, who dictates the pace, and who sets the boundaries. For businesses, the ruling will define the environment in which they negotiate their own deals and partnerships. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2025/scotus-tariffs-or-no-tariffs/ Fri, 31 Oct 2025 17:26:13 GMT 7029 Brian Buck For negotiators inside and outside of sports, this is a powerful lesson: Constraints don’t have to limit you; in fact, they can force you to deal smarter. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2025/when-constraints-create-champions/ Fri, 24 Oct 2025 18:16:21 GMT 7025 Brian Buck Negotiation anxiety is real, and the results can be costly: giving in too easily, accepting lopsided deal terms, letting the other side control the process, or walking away from opportunities altogether. At its core, negotiation anxiety is rooted in conflict avoidance https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2025/turning-negotiation-anxiety-into-your-competitive-advantage/ Fri, 17 Oct 2025 18:22:44 GMT 7023 Brian Buck The US government is still shut down: two sides, both convinced they’re right, both unwilling to back down. The longer it drags on, the more “saving face” becomes the obstacle to making progress. But in a negotiation, that instinct can easily lead us astray https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2025/saving-face-without-losing-ground/ Fri, 17 Oct 2025 18:21:17 GMT 7019 Brian Buck I was at the Capitol in Washington, D.C. the night the government shut down. Unfortunately, I wasn’t invited in to help negotiate a deal. Then again, I don’t think either side was in a mood to negotiate. From the start, it was framed as a win-lose showdown. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2025/i-was-there/ Fri, 03 Oct 2025 21:10:40 GMT 7014 Brian Buck In any negotiation, price, terms, and timeline are critical factors, but another element often matters just as much: who actually holds the authority to decide. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2025/one-voice-or-many/ Fri, 26 Sep 2025 18:51:15 GMT 7007 Brian Buck Contract renewals aren’t just administrative exercises. Done well, they’re strategic opportunities to strengthen partnerships, reset expectations, and create new value. In a recent roundtable with Luc Bertram, VP of Global Strategic Accounts at Ingredion, and Miranda Rohrbaugh, Scotwork North America VP of Sales, we discussed best practices that apply to both buyers and sellers. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2025/contract-renewals-6-tips-for-success/ Fri, 19 Sep 2025 20:26:30 GMT 7003 Brian Buck Ever tried using GPS on a road trip, only to have it reroute every five minutes? First, there’s traffic, then a detour, and suddenly, you’re on a dirt road! In a VUCA world, negotiations can feel the same way: The destination may be clear, but the path to get there rarely is. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2025/negotiating-in-chaos/ Fri, 12 Sep 2025 19:07:18 GMT 6997 Brian Buck I was recently reminded of a saying: Negotiations are built on trust, not tactics. Without trust, even the best deal structures fall apart. Still, it would be a mistake to dismiss tactics. They’re not tricks, they’re tools. When used thoughtfully, tactics help build trust, manage the negotiation, and ensure both sides reach an outcome they can commit to. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2025/negotiation-is-built-on-trust-and-strengthened-by-tactics/ Fri, 05 Sep 2025 23:29:30 GMT 6995 Brian Buck This year’s contract renewal season is anything but routine. New federal and state rules tighten compliance requirements, AI tools are transforming how companies manage their agreements, and a host of turbulent external forces are making long-term planning far more complicated. However, while the specifics of today’s environment may be unique, the underlying challenge is not. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2025/renewals-are-not-routine/ Fri, 22 Aug 2025 22:17:16 GMT 6991 Brian Buck As back-to-school season returns, it reminds me of my worst scholastic nightmare—a sudden “pop quiz.” I was reminded of this when discussing a contract renewal with a client who leaned back and said, “By the way, there’s one more thing we’ll need before we can renew.” I got that same sinking feeling and wondered, “Am I prepared?” https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2025/pop-quiz-are-you-ready/ Fri, 15 Aug 2025 16:23:31 GMT 6989 Brian Buck Mastering how to read digital signals — the body language of an online world — can make or break a negotiation. These subtle cues, hidden in timing, tone, and formatting, can reveal intent, interest, or flexibility. By learning to interpret and deliberately send them, you help keep conversations human, even when they happen behind a screen. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2025/reading-digital-signals-not-1s-and-0s/ Sat, 09 Aug 2025 00:21:24 GMT 6987 Brian Buck It’s that time of year again. The sun is blazing, your inbox is full of “out of office” replies, and your most promising deal — has suddenly gone silent. What should you do to keep deals moving forward during the summer slump, when prospects vanish, timelines stretch, and deal momentum melts like ice cream a sidewalk? https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2025/sweating-the-summer-slump/ Fri, 01 Aug 2025 16:59:00 GMT 6985 Brian Buck Last week, a client asked if I could write something about Mercury being in retrograde and how it relates to negotiation. I did what any logic-loving negotiation consultant would do: I googled “what the heck is Mercury in retrograde?” Turns out, it’s when the planet Mercury appears to move backward in the sky and astrologers warn us to expect miscommunications, tech breakdowns, and bad decisions. Whether you believe the stars are messing with you, the symptoms of Mercury in retrograde sound eerily familiar to anyone who's ever been in a high-stakes negotiation. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2025/mercury-in-retrograde-a-negotiator-s-cosmic-excuse/ Fri, 25 Jul 2025 20:20:48 GMT 6983 Brian Buck In the heat of a negotiation, it’s easy to slip into the trap of trying to be right. We believe our argument is solid. We’ve done the homework. We’re sure the other side just doesn’t get it. So, we double down, we repeat ourselves, we clarify, we reinforce. Yet we don’t move forward. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2025/when-being-right-gets-in-the-way/ Fri, 11 Jul 2025 23:25:38 GMT 6981 Brian Buck The American Revolution didn’t begin with the Declaration of Independence, but it is a document that changed the course of history. The Declaration was a bold, argument-backed, crystal-clear position that laid out key self-evident truths. It also held some key lessons every negotiator can use. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2025/self-evident-negotiation-truths/ Mon, 07 Jul 2025 14:54:12 GMT 6979 Brian Buck After 25 years of raising a family together with countless laughs, a few tears, and our share of ups and downs, I re-proposed to my wife for our silver anniversary. And for a second time in my lucky life, she said yes! As we reminisced on how we got here, I realized that some of the best lessons we’ve learned as partners are the same as in a successful negotiation. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2025/25-years-of-yes/ Fri, 27 Jun 2025 23:49:53 GMT 6974 Brian Buck When it comes to negotiation, who’s watching can change everything. Public negotiations invite an unspoken actor: reputation. It can become less about “what’s the right outcome?” and more about “how do I look while getting it?” https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2025/negotiating-in-the-spotlight/ Fri, 20 Jun 2025 18:42:46 GMT 6972 Brian Buck I once had a revelation that transformed my understanding of leadership at the negotiating table. I previously believed leaders should always be front and center. But I learned that effective leadership sometimes means stepping back. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2025/a-view-from-the-observation-deck/ Fri, 13 Jun 2025 19:28:32 GMT 6966 Brian Buck Negotiations often come down to one issue: one side wants change, while the other prefers the status quo. The current US tariffs highlight this dynamic. No matter your political views, this situation provides an interesting case: How can negotiators alter or preserve the existing state of affairs? The answers will help anyone negotiate the tariffs’ impacts. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2025/the-status-quo-and-tariffs/ Fri, 06 Jun 2025 16:25:55 GMT 6964 Brian Buck Finally, AI for negotiators that makes sense. We’ve spoken with many negotiators about how they currently use AI, and their practices and tools vary widely. One thing has become clear: There haven’t been any tools specifically designed for negotiators — until now. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2025/ai-for-negotiators/ Tue, 03 Jun 2025 15:53:56 GMT 6961 Brian Buck Not long ago, we were working with a customer to build a negotiation performance plan for their sourcing team. At the last minute, their Chief Purchasing Officer was replaced. Naturally, our deal was paused while the new CPO got up to speed, but we didn’t sit idle. We acted. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2025/leadership-transitions/ Fri, 16 May 2025 21:53:15 GMT 6954 Brian Buck Recently, I was speaking with a new prospect about a challenge he was facing. He said, “I need your negotiation training to teach my people to be more combative!” I was puzzled, so, I asked him to clarify https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2025/be-more-combative/ Thu, 12 Jun 2025 15:40:16 GMT 6952 Brian Buck Too often, negotiators fall into traps that waste time, drain energy, and delay valuable outcomes. Whether it’s endless circular arguments, ego-driven battles, or unclear decision processes, the results are the same: lost time and opportunity. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2025/time-is-precious-don-t-waste-it-negotiating/ Fri, 02 May 2025 18:37:17 GMT 6949 Brian Buck We talk to a lot of organizations about how to train their people to be better negotiators and find that many people think of training as a one-and-done activity. However, that perception can cost organizations real results. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2025/negotiation-training-isn-t-an-event-it-s-a-performance-strategy/ Fri, 25 Apr 2025 21:29:26 GMT 6947 Brian Buck Clients frequently tell us, “We want a better deal.” I get it: The phrase rolls off the tongue, feels assertive, and suggests a sense of urgency and purpose. But what does “better” mean? Without a clear objective, negotiators are at risk of damaging relationships, undermining internal alignment, and being taken advantage of. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2025/what-s-wrong-with-a-better-deal/ Fri, 18 Apr 2025 21:16:29 GMT 6945 Brian Buck Baseball season is officially underway, and once again, data and analytics have taken center stage. From traditional stats to advanced metrics, analytics help pinpoint improvements and optimize pitcher-batter matchups. This ocean of data notwithstanding, baseball remains stubbornly unpredictable. Negotiations mirror this phenomenon. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2025/negotiation-sabermetrics-are-not-enough/ Fri, 11 Apr 2025 21:38:21 GMT 6943 Brian Buck Responding is methodical and thoughtful; reacting is emotional and chaotic. This distinction is critical in the turbulent waters of tariff changes and trade wars. Reacting to headlines is easy — it’s the knee-jerk, instinct-driven choice. But successful negotiators and business leaders know better. They recognize that real strength lies in deliberate responses built on strategy, clarity, and preparation. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2025/respond-don-t-react-negotiating-amid-tariff-uncertainty/ Mon, 07 Apr 2025 16:35:30 GMT 6941 Brian Buck When most people think about persuasion, they picture a well-reasoned argument, a confident delivery, or possibly a pushy personality with a flashy presentation. But the most persuasive people aren’t necessarily the loudest or the most articulate. They’re the best listeners. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2025/the-secret-to-persuasion-it-s-not-what-you-say/ Fri, 28 Mar 2025 17:24:28 GMT 6937 Jill Campen At Scotwork, our negotiation consulting clients tell us that the toughest negotiations are internal. The key to successful internal negotiations is resetting our mindset to activate the right skill set. Want to improve interactions with your boss, a peer, a coworker, or another division or department? https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2025/the-cure-for-dreaded-internal-negotiations/ Fri, 21 Mar 2025 21:38:57 GMT 6934 Gaëtan Pellerin When you’re in the thick of a negotiation, there’s a very good chance that it’s already too late to make your best deal. When you take shortcuts — or, worse, convince yourself that you can “wing it” — you turn your back on the key to successful negotiating. When the unexpected comes up (and it will), it may not just be an obstacle, it can be a disaster. The time to call in a negotiation consultant is before your upcoming negotiation. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2025/is-it-already-too-late/ Fri, 14 Mar 2025 21:55:18 GMT 6930 Brian Buck Every negotiator faces tough negotiations, whether it's price pressure, aligning stakeholders, or navigating contract terms. For our webinar Master the Toughest Negotiations, we asked our community about the toughest negotiations they’re facing, and our experts tackled these challenges head-on https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2025/toughest-negotiations-strategies-for-success/ Sat, 08 Mar 2025 17:07:14 GMT 6925 Brian Buck A couple of weeks ago, I wrote an article about how to deliver the bad news in a negotiation. Someone in one of our negotiation training classes asked, “But why are people hiding the bad news in the first place?” Great question! ​​​​If we understand the reasons we hide bad news, we can get better at delivering bad news. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2025/deal-conceal-10-reasons-why-we-bury-bad-news/ Sat, 01 Mar 2025 03:06:13 GMT 6920 Brian Buck Price is often what people focus on in a negotiation. It’s easy to measure, easy to compare, and easy to argue. But focusing only on price reduces a negotiation to a zero-sum game. Instead of simply pushing for more or resisting change, negotiators should look at what price represents and take the opportunity to create real value. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2025/the-price-of-everything-the-value-of-nothing/ Sat, 22 Feb 2025 01:43:15 GMT 6918 Brian Buck Negotiators love to build momentum. There’s a natural tendency in a negotiation to start with the easy issues — but there’s a trap in this approach. When the toughest issues are left for last, negotiators often run out of time and leverage, and they’re forced to accept bad choices, which leads to bad deals. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2025/give-me-the-hard-stuff/ Sat, 15 Feb 2025 22:44:25 GMT 6915 Brian Buck The latest round of tariffs has set off a flurry of reactions across industries — some rational, others reactionary. Businesses are scrambling to adjust, and in some cases, making decisions that could cost them dearly when the dust settles. But if history has taught us anything, it’s that trade wars, like all economic disruptions, are temporary. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2025/the-art-of-trade-wars/ Wed, 04 Jun 2025 01:39:25 GMT 6908 Brian Buck Read this, or else! As leaders, pundits, and influencers simplify incredibly complex topics into shareable sound bites or clickbait, the use of ultimatums is on the rise. At every turn, it feels like we’re faced with some sort of threat wrapped in an ultimatum. The problem is that the misuse of ultimatums can lead to greater division, bigger problems, and more conflict. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2025/ultimatum-or-ultimiss-em/ Fri, 31 Jan 2025 20:27:06 GMT 6906 Brian Buck When organizations want to improve their negotiations, they tend to focus on benefits like better deals, stronger relationships, and increased profitability. They should also consider the cost of inaction, which can be extremely far-reaching. Bad deals impact revenue and the bottom line, not to mention an organization’s culture, relationships, and future growth. That’s why better negotiation is a non-negotiable for any team or organization. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2025/better-negotiation-is-a-non-negotiable/ Fri, 24 Jan 2025 20:20:38 GMT 6903 Brian Buck I live in Southern California, a place where wildfires are an unfortunate reality. My family has been evacuated twice due to fires. Fortunately, my family and I came back to an undamaged home, but for tens of thousands of people displaced by the fires burning across Los Angeles County, that’s not the case. It’s a tragedy that’s hard to truly comprehend. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2025/what-s-most-important-to-you/ Fri, 24 Jan 2025 20:01:56 GMT 6900 Brian Buck Fifty years ago, Scotwork began with a bold motivating principle: Negotiation isn’t just a skill — it’s a transformative tool for creating value, resolving conflict, and forging lasting relationships. John McMillan, our visionary founder, understood that behind every successful deal is a skilled negotiator following a pragmatic process. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2025/welcome-to-2025/ Fri, 24 Jan 2025 22:59:56 GMT 6895 Brian Buck This time of year is steeped in traditions. In my household, one such tradition stands out: My wife listens to an audiobook of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol every year, and it sparks a thought: The three ghosts that visit Scrooge also visit every negotiation. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2024/a-dickens-inspired-negotiation-tale/ Sat, 07 Dec 2024 00:27:51 GMT 6890 Brian Buck It’s that time: The clock is ticking, holidays are looming, the ball is about to drop on another year . . . and you still have deals to close! If you’ve got deals to get done, it’s time to pick up the pace. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2024/hurry-up-the-year-is-ending/ Sat, 30 Nov 2024 01:31:10 GMT 6888 Brian Buck Thanksgiving is upon us, and while we look forward to family, food, and maybe some football, we know there’s another game at the table: the art of the Thanksgiving swap. Thanksgiving negotiation isn’t just interpersonal peace treaties, it’s also about securing your culinary favorites. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2024/the-thanksgiving-swap/ Fri, 22 Nov 2024 14:58:21 GMT 6886 Brian Buck I recently received a note from a client I’ve been consulting on a deal with. In it, she asked how to deal with ghosting, an issue I’ve heard from so many people, I thought I’d share her note here. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2024/tired-of-being-ghosted/ Fri, 15 Nov 2024 22:11:19 GMT 6884 Brian Buck It’s no secret that last week's presidential election was, well, spirited. In the aftermath, you might see a mix of victory laps and disappointed sighs, or your lunch break conversations may feel like a dance around landmines. Yet the day after, we’re all back at work, needing to navigate projects, deadlines, and, yes, differences of opinion. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2024/navigating-differences-after-a-heated-election/ Fri, 08 Nov 2024 22:52:37 GMT 6881 Gaëtan Pellerin When deal deadlines loom, we often find ourselves in a position when we start to argue. We do this because we may be faced with accepting a just OK deal as we run out of time. Here are 3 tips to help you slow down time to get your best possible deal. (You’re not really slowing down time. That would require an Einstein-level grasp of the Theory of Relativity. We’re not physicists, but we can help you use your time more effectively.) https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2024/make-the-negotiation-time-warp-your-ally/ Fri, 01 Nov 2024 23:37:57 GMT 6878 Brian Buck Halloween is upon us! Let's finish our scary talk about the seven deadly sins of a negotiator. These are sins that all of us commit from time to time, but depending on your circumstances, they can put your deal in mortal peril. Part Two concludes this series. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2024/the-seven-deadly-sins-of-a-negotiator-part-2/ Mon, 28 Oct 2024 16:56:26 GMT 6873 Brian Buck With Halloween around the corner, it’s a great time to talk about the seven deadly sins of a negotiator. These are sins that all of us commit from time to time, but depending on your circumstances, they can put your deal in mortal peril. Part One of Two. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2024/the-seven-deadly-sins-of-a-negotiator-part-1/ Fri, 18 Oct 2024 20:52:12 GMT 6871 Trevor Murphy It’s contract renewal season! The stakes are high; ongoing business relationships are sometimes crucial to ensure consistency. So, what do you do when you must address the elephant in the room? Remember that there are two sides to every issue — or elephant — and you’ll need to consider both of them. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2024/two-sides-to-every-elephant/ Fri, 11 Oct 2024 16:48:17 GMT 6867 Brian Buck “The time to fix a roof is when the sun is shining.” — President John F. Kennedy. Every labor dispute negotiation could begin with that saying. It’s certainly true about the current Boeing labor strike. Many industry experts say this is something that could’ve been avoided — years ago. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2024/strike-when-the-iron-is-cold/ Fri, 27 Sep 2024 23:39:39 GMT 6856 Brian Buck Is it me or did summer fly by? September 22 was the fall equinox, and it’s the official end of summer. As the days shorten and the air turns crisp, the fall equinox is nature’s way of reminding us of the inevitability of change. It’s also a profound metaphor for what happens in a negotiation. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2024/the-negotiation-equinox/ Fri, 20 Sep 2024 17:18:22 GMT 6854 Brian Buck The NFL season is underway, and I got to thinking about some of the most remarkable negotiations in NFL history. These high-stakes negotiations offer some great lessons that you can take into your next deal. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2024/negotiate-like-an-nfl-pro/ Fri, 13 Sep 2024 20:32:24 GMT 6852 Brian Buck This has been one of the most unconventional presidential races in recent history. Given the outcome of the last debate, the upcoming one will have a lot riding on it. Beyond political theater, it’ll showcase a critical skill that applies well beyond the campaign trail: the art of framing. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2024/presidential-framers-and-reframers/ Sat, 07 Sep 2024 19:44:12 GMT 6850 Brian Buck Back-to-school can bring about an onslaught of unsolicited opinions and advice — from what supplies to buy to which extracurricular activities your kids should be involved in. It can lead to resentment and frustration, and the same can be said for the unsolicited opinions we receive about negotiations we’re involved in. How we handle those opinions can have an impact on our performance. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2024/unsolicited-opinions/ Fri, 15 Aug 2025 00:10:59 GMT 6846 Brian Buck My daughter is excited about her second year of college, mostly because she gets to live in her own apartment with friends. The search for this apartment served as a great reminder that negotiations can sneak up on you when you least expect them. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2024/unexpected-negotiation/ Sat, 17 Aug 2024 18:55:45 GMT 6843 Brian Buck Unlike the Olympics, where medals are given for top performance, most negotiations end without flares or fanfare. So then, how is success measured? https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2024/measuring-success-a-negotiation-s-closing-ceremony/ Sat, 17 Aug 2024 18:47:38 GMT 6840 Brian Buck I rarely think about the other side as a competitor. I approach most negotiations collaboratively. However, we can inadvertently make our negotiations competitive in an unproductive way if we’re not mindful of how we show up at the table and the language that we use. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2024/training-your-competition/ Sat, 03 Aug 2024 00:14:09 GMT 6838 Brian Buck For the first time in the history of the Olympic Summer Games, the Opening Ceremony did not take place in a stadium. Paris 2024 broke new ground with the parade of athletes down the Seine. It set a tone for the Games that got me thinking: If you were to produce an Opening Ceremony for your negotiations, what would it be? https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2024/negotiation-opening-ceremony/ Fri, 26 Jul 2024 17:25:51 GMT 6835 Brian Buck When we ask people about their negotiation issues, almost everyone tells us that their toughest negotiations are with the people they work with. Mastering internal negotiations is essential for achieving professional goals and fostering a collaborative work environment. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2024/surviving-the-toughest-work-negotiations/ Fri, 19 Jul 2024 18:10:28 GMT 6833 Brian Buck Power is fluid. It depends on the ability of those holding it to wield it and use it to their advantage. Knowing how to use your power is a negotiation skill that can help anyone enhance their outcome in a negotiation. However, recognizing a shift in power is not always easy. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2024/power-shifts/ Fri, 12 Jul 2024 15:27:41 GMT 6830 Brian Buck We study trillions of dollars of negotiated commerce a year, and whenever we ask negotiators if they can identify the long-term value of what they negotiated, only 23% say they can. That seems nearly impossible! But when you negotiate without purpose, that’s exactly what can happen. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2024/negotiate-with-purpose/ Fri, 28 Jun 2024 23:39:38 GMT 6825 Millie Davis Have you ever had a travel situation that didn’t go according to plan? Yeah, me too. In the past year, an airline that will go unnamed lost my bags. Here's how negotiation serves in this situation https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2024/vacation-desperation-use-negotiation/ Fri, 21 Jun 2024 21:47:07 GMT 6823 Brian Buck The United States has wrestled with significant challenges: divisiveness, states restricting rights and voting laws, big businesses gaining more power... I should mention that I’m talking about the US at the turn of the 20th century — 1901, to be precise, when Theodore Roosevelt was about to become president. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2024/a-square-deal/ Fri, 07 Jun 2024 21:40:32 GMT 6819 Brian Buck I recently delivered a keynote speech on “How to increase the value of your deals.” There was a lot of buzz at the meet and greet prior to the event about negotiation. As I mingled and people asked me questions about what I do, I quickly realized just how misunderstood negotiation is. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2024/negotiation-is-misunderstood/ Tue, 28 Jan 2025 22:38:11 GMT 6816 Brian Buck Ever since cave paintings, there’s been publicity. It’s proven effective for everything from Greek philosophers who taught the art of persuasion through rhetoric to modern-day social media influencers scheming to get us to buy their sponsors’ products. Have you ever thought about how to use publicity in your negotiation? https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2024/what-s-your-negotiation-pr-strategy/ Fri, 24 May 2024 13:16:51 GMT 6814 Brian Buck You don’t have to be a basketball fan to know the name Kobe Bryant. As great of a player as he was, he was best-known for his work ethic. No one outworked him, outpracticed him, or outhustled him. He didn’t always win, but if you were going to beat Kobe, you had to be at your very best. Now, imagine Kobe as a negotiator. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2024/could-you-outnegotiate-kobe/ Fri, 17 May 2024 16:37:38 GMT 6811 Brian Buck One of our clients needed help with a strategically important negotiation because they just went through a complex RFP and were needed to tame an existing, overbearing supplier. Time was of the essence because contracts were expiring soon. Their first question to us was, “Where do we begin?” https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2024/where-to-begin/ Fri, 03 May 2024 17:01:11 GMT 6808 Brian Buck Last week, we learned that The American Business Awards® honored us with not one, but two Stevie® Awards. The Stevie Award recognizes excellence in the development of business thought leadership. We’re humbled, proud, and honored to have received these awards. The fact is, this honor should be shared with you, our readers. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2024/and-the-award-goes-to/ Fri, 26 Apr 2024 17:19:55 GMT 6804 Alan Smith An eminent professor of psychology ran an experiment in England with some people who considered themselves lucky and others who described themselves as unlucky. What he learned gives us insights into how we can approach the negotiating table. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2024/do-you-feel-lucky/ Thu, 25 Apr 2024 19:10:14 GMT 6800 Brian Buck I’ve been working recently on a large formal negotiation. In fact, there are 70 people in the negotiating room. Given the size and scope, the negotiation teams agreed on some rules of engagement. It occurred to me that these rules can provide great lessons for even the smallest negotiations. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2024/rules-of-engagement/ Fri, 12 Apr 2024 22:00:10 GMT 6798 Brian Buck With the men’s NCAA basketball championship game happening tonight, it’s also time to reveal the champion mayhem-inducing issue at the negotiating table as voted on by our Scotwork community. But first . . . how did we get here? https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2024/and-the-winner-is/ Sun, 07 Apr 2024 17:17:21 GMT 6795 Brian Buck This post concludes our series on negotiation mayhem, and it seems appropriate that we end on a note about chaos. As I wrote this post, I went down a rabbit hole regarding the butterfly effect. The deeper I went, the clearer it became that there might be more miscellaneous mayhem or chaos at the negotiating table than we tend to appreciate. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2024/chaos-and-mayhem/ Fri, 22 Mar 2024 20:28:44 GMT 6792 Brian Buck “The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any.” There is no truer statement about power than this one from Alice Walker. It’s one reason why power issues can create so much mayhem at the negotiating table. Power is the central theme of so many of our clients’ negotiations. It’s also one of the topics that we’re asked about — and have written about — the most. But why does it create so many issues? https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2024/power-mayhem/ Fri, 15 Mar 2024 20:56:08 GMT 6787 Brian Buck I said it. And there was nothing I could do to take it back. I felt sick to my stomach because I knew what I said was going to make the rest of the negotiation difficult for me to navigate. That’s the price of self-created mayhem. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2024/self-created-mayhem/ Fri, 08 Mar 2024 23:47:26 GMT 6785 Brian Buck On Saint Patrick’s Day, while we’re being Irish for one day, the NCAA will select teams for the tournament affectionately called March Madness. It’s a perfect description because anything can happen. Anything can happen when we sit down at the negotiating table, and we need to be ready to deal with all the possibilities https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2024/getting-ready-for-the-mayhem/ Wed, 06 Mar 2024 04:57:11 GMT 6777 Brian Buck For the past month, I’ve been blasted by rom-coms: two people meet, sparks fly, someone does something dumb, and after some complications, they find happily-ever-after with an upbeat song. The thing that usually drives them apart? Breaking trust. Maintaining trust can make a good relationship great. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2024/making-good-relationships-great/ Fri, 01 Mar 2024 20:19:27 GMT 6773 Brian Buck Part Three in our Strengthening Relationships series. We were excited to have won the RFP, till we started to negotiate the final contract. Excitement turned to anger and collaboration became competition. It was a maddening situation, and it left me wondering, “Do I even want this business?” https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2024/damaged-goods-a-relationship-gone-bad/ Fri, 16 Feb 2024 20:17:25 GMT 6771 Simon Carkeek Part Two in our Strengthening Relationships series. Partnerships are about alignment toward common goals. They are also about understanding that the parties value things differently. What negotiation techniques that can strengthen partnerships and create value? Here are three ways to https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2024/what-makes-partnerships-work/ Mon, 12 Feb 2024 04:13:59 GMT 6767 Brian Buck Part One in our Strengthening Relationships series. We all know a good relationship is important, but its impact on a negotiation is still sometimes underestimated. This is where we begin our relationship journey: relationship appreciation — the good, the bad, and the ugly https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2024/relationships-matter-more-than-you-think/ Fri, 02 Feb 2024 19:40:18 GMT 6765 Brian Buck Part Three in our Negotiation Resolutions series. Talking about family business can be like talking about religion, politics, or baseball — it may open a can of worms! But so many people brought this topic up that we can’t ignore it. The different family situations people want to be better at negotiating include https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2024/family-matters/ Tue, 13 Feb 2024 19:31:07 GMT 6763 Brian Buck Part Two in our Negotiation Resolutions series. As we start the New Year, we’re exploring various Negotiation Resolutions our community has submitted. People let us know, loud and clear, that they care about negotiating better commercial terms. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2024/commercial-terms/ Sun, 21 Jan 2024 06:45:58 GMT 6759 Brian Buck Part One in our Negotiation Resolutions series. Negotiating value isn’t easy, particularly when it’s personal value, which is subjective and based on an opinion of something’s worth. People, services, and non-commodity products carry an inherent value that isn’t always appreciated. That’s where emotion comes into play. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2024/emotion-and-personal-values/ Fri, 12 Jan 2024 23:31:40 GMT 6757 Brian Buck Happy 2024! I don’t know about you, but it seems I’ve heard more people saying good riddance to the year that’s passed than I did even during the height of the pandemic. Hopefully, that’s a sign of good things to come. As we all look forward to better days, my outlook on 2024 is that of cautious optimism. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2024/welcome-to-2024/ Fri, 05 Jan 2024 19:00:37 GMT 6754 Brian Buck “They seem to value this differently than we do.” In a contentious negotiation, my client had the epiphany that their team and the other side valued their potential deal in completely different ways. When the other side didn’t seem as enthusiastic and lacked the same sense of urgency, it became apparent that something was amiss. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2023/what-is-value/ Sat, 02 Dec 2023 03:38:11 GMT 6745 Brian Buck On my desk there’s a small note containing three daily reminders that help me maintain perspective on the world and the people in it. I’m grateful for these, so I thought I’d share them with you ahead of your Thanksgiving. And since these posts are about negotiation, I’ll also relate them back to how they could impact a negotiation. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2023/a-grateful-perspective-1/ Sat, 18 Nov 2023 14:21:01 GMT 6739 Brian Buck Signals come in a variety of forms, one of which is round numbers. Anyone who has worked a spreadsheet to analyze costs or prices knows that the answer is rarely a round number. When we hear round numbers in a negotiation, they usually signal that the number may not be exact, and there could be some flexibility. Does this mean that you should avoid using round numbers? Not always. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2023/suspiciously-round-numbers/ Sat, 18 Nov 2023 14:19:01 GMT 6735 Brian Buck I was talking to a friend who’s beside himself about an interpersonal issue he’s having at work. He’s losing sleep and it’s created a lot of tension and disruption in his personal life. He’s not alone: Studies show that, aside from workload, interpersonal relationships are the biggest cause of stress in the workplace. Nearly 83% of American workers report work-related stress, and it costs businesses $51B a year. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2023/relationships-at-risk-1/ Fri, 03 Nov 2023 23:11:54 GMT 6732 Brian Buck Did you hear the one about the lawyer who insured his cigars against fire? It’s a great yarn on how fluid power can be. Power changes based on the marketplace, the players involved, the issues at play, and a variety of other factors. Therefore, how we use our power is paramount to the outcome of a negotiation. However, it can also have a profound impact on how the other side will use their power. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2023/power-up-in-smoke/ Fri, 03 Nov 2023 23:14:18 GMT 6728 Brian Buck Late-night TV is back! A few days ago, Arnold Schwarzenegger was on Jimmy Kimmel Live!. They discussed the strikes that kept late-night TV dark for five months. Schwarzenegger suggested that they lock the studio executives and union leaders in a room and tell them that they can’t come out till a deal is done. In classic Schwarzenegger fashion, he added, “When a deal is done, I’ll be back!” Could that work? https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2023/i-ll-be-back/ Sat, 14 Oct 2023 00:03:55 GMT 6726 Brian Buck Investment companies to tell investors that "past performance does not guarantee future results." However, we humans have a cognitive bias that almost guarantees we look at the future based on our past performance. How can negotiators get beyond their own perspectives and mitigate cognitive bias? https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2023/the-past-is-not-your-future/ Fri, 06 Oct 2023 19:04:21 GMT 6723 Brian Buck A few weeks ago, we were driving and Steve Miller Band’s “The Joker” was blaring out of the speakers. We all sang. “Some people call me Maurice / ’Cause I speak of the pompatus of love . . .” Through our singing and laughing, someone asked, “What does ‘pompatus’ mean?” https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2023/the-pompatus-of-love/ Fri, 06 Oct 2023 18:56:09 GMT 6721 Brian Buck Our clients work with us because we can help them get better deals, complete negotiations more efficiently, achieve more consistent results and improve relationships. You read that right: improve relationships. How you conduct your negotiation can absolutely improve your relationship with the other party. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2023/can-bartering-lead-to-bonding/ Fri, 22 Sep 2023 22:37:59 GMT 6719 John Leehman On a recent trip to British Columbia, I booked a suite to enjoy the best view of the city for me and my clients. Upon arrival, I learned the elevator was malfunctioning and, due to a Canadian holiday, no repairs could be expected until after checkout. When you have a legitimate complaint, you need to put on your negotiator’s hat. Here’s how to seize the opportunity as a skilled negotiator: https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2023/don-t-get-angry-get-value/ Fri, 20 Oct 2023 22:18:38 GMT 6716 Brian Buck Contract renewals are on many negotiators’ priority lists at this time of year. These negotiations have a lot riding on them and can be stressful. To help ease the pressure, we brought together a roundtable of Scotwork procurement and sales negotiation experts to discuss the contract renewal questions submitted by our community. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2023/mastering-contract-renewals/ Fri, 08 Sep 2023 15:38:42 GMT 6712 Brian Buck With Labor Day behind us, and our white clothes tucked away for another summer, it might also be time to stop laboring so much over your negotiations and achieve your objectives efficiently. I won’t belabor (pun intended) this point, but failing to prepare, as the adage goes, is preparing to fail. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2023/stop-laboring/ Fri, 01 Sep 2023 21:34:32 GMT 6708 Randy Kutz The opportunity to continue learning is always before us. As sure as the sun sets today on the deals at your negotiating table, it will rise again tomorrow on new ones. What can you learn from today that you can bring to the table tomorrow? Here are some things to consider that could help you grow as a negotiator . . . https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2023/back-to-school-time-for-negotiators-too/ Fri, 18 Aug 2023 23:19:50 GMT 6700 Brian Buck Have you ever lost control of an important situation? I have, and I hate it. When something is meaningful to me, my emotions take over: I can get angry, myopic, and hypercompetitive. I lose control of my ability to calmly and rationally find a way through it. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2023/i-lost-control/ Fri, 11 Aug 2023 21:55:30 GMT 6698 Simon Carkeek The worst part of a recent experience was that I felt powerless during it, even though I wasn’t. I was focused on my concern that my family would be disappointed instead of assessing my situation clearly. I didn’t take the time to evaluate my power. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2023/powerless-think-again-1/ Fri, 11 Aug 2023 21:55:06 GMT 6696 Brian Buck We recently hosted a private webinar about negotiating during economic uncertainty. When we booked the webinar, the macroeconomic situation was a lot more precarious than it is now. However, our client’s customers continue to deliver messages like, “Because of the economy, we need you to cut costs” or “Till things look up, we need to keep costs flat.” Our client wants to know why. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2023/fact-or-fiction/ Fri, 28 Jul 2023 23:17:15 GMT 6689 Brian Buck Over the past week, Mark Cuban has shown up in a variety of articles, offering negotiation tips. The Shark Tank co-star and billionaire investor has been doling out a lot of advice, much of which I agree with, including one piece that I wouldn’t have associated with him: never try to “win.” https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2023/is-mark-cuban-right/ Fri, 28 Jul 2023 23:16:53 GMT 6671 Brian Buck It sounds crazy, but I just read an article about a star athlete who turned down a $1.7B contract (salary of $400M/year) for a deal that gave him a salary of close to $60M a year. WTH? I realized I need to get more interested. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2023/would-you-turn-down-1-7b/ Fri, 28 Jul 2023 23:17:36 GMT 6664 Randy Kutz My young granddaughter recently approached me with a sad look while clutching something to her chest. I asked her what was wrong, and she opened her hands to show me. Spread out in her tiny palms was a special keepsake broken into three pieces. I assured her we could glue it back together, and it would be as “good as new.” While that stopped her tears, the reality of what “good as new” actually meant became evident: “renewed” was not “restored” to the way it once was. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2023/your-contract-is-as-good-as-new/ Fri, 28 Jul 2023 23:17:53 GMT 6649 Brian Buck My youngest daughter graduates high school this week, and I’m sad. I’m super excited for her and her next adventure and about my next chapter with my wife, but I’m sad that the magical childhood moments are over. It’s a reminder that change is inevitable and can trip up the best of us if we’re not paying attention. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2023/change-is-inevitable/ Fri, 09 Jun 2023 20:44:06 GMT 6615 Brian Buck It’s been fascinating to watch the debt ceiling negotiations. It was interesting to see who stood up for and against the deal, who crossed party lines, and if the deal would be done by the deadline. Now we can ask, did we see any good negotiating behavior? https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2023/do-it-or-else/ Fri, 02 Jun 2023 19:53:16 GMT 6613 Brian Buck We asked our Scotwork community of nearly 40K people, “What’s the toughest negotiation situation you’re facing right now?” The response was overwhelming and, suffice it to say, there are a lot of tough negotiations underway. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2023/toughest-negotiations/ Fri, 26 May 2023 01:21:34 GMT 6610 Gaëtan Pellerin A couple of weekends ago, I had dinner with one of my neighbors. We caught up about a complex, emotional negotiation he had with a former business partner. My neighbor had been dreading the negotiation. We worked together before the negotiation to identify what was triggering his concerns. We clarified his priorities and under what conditions he would move forward with the deal. As we went through this process, my neighbor’s biggest surprise was the realization that money wasn’t his main driver. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2023/emotionally-intelligent-negotiators/ Fri, 12 May 2023 23:43:12 GMT 6598 Brian Buck This week, it was announced that all late-night talk shows will be going dark because the Writers Guild of America (WGA) went on strike. As the industry ventures into the unknown, there’s a question on a lot of people’s minds: Could they have avoided the strike? https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2023/not-the-late-night-shows/ Sat, 06 May 2023 00:38:00 GMT 6594 Simon Carkeek There’s a little store in my town that sells handmade soaps, bath salts, lotions, and other fancy toiletries. Everything is very nice, but there are numerous other stores in town that sell similar products. So, why is this store always my go-to for gifts? Literally, it’s the packaging! https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2023/packaging-matters/ Fri, 28 Apr 2023 17:19:56 GMT 6575 Brian Buck “I’m a people pleaser!” admitted one of our clients during a recent negotiation training we did for them. The training program started more like a negotiation support group, but the participant wasn’t alone. Many people in the room felt the same way https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2023/stop-trying-to-please-everyone/ Fri, 21 Apr 2023 23:12:25 GMT 6545 Brian Buck We constantly analyze trends at the negotiating table. In a recent survey of our community, where we asked people about their toughest negotiation, and I found one response particularly interesting regarding the perception of power. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2023/perception-of-power/ Fri, 14 Apr 2023 21:05:50 GMT 6524 Brian Buck After years of playing sports, not to mention other physical abuse, it finally happened — my shoulder gave out. Last week, I had arthroscopic surgery. I have my right arm, my dominant hand, strapped to my side for six weeks. While all of this is temporary, it’s forced me to adapt to make my environment work for me. The ability to adapt will be my focus for a while. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2023/the-unexpected/ Fri, 07 Apr 2023 19:03:26 GMT 6520 Simon Carkeek I just returned from a short trip to the UK, where it feels like half the country is on strike. My train from London to Bristol was canceled due to a strike, forcing me to get a taxi back to Heathrow so that I could hire a car instead! I stayed with my brother, and when I woke up late the next day https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2023/unsticking-a-stuck-negotiation/ Sat, 01 Apr 2023 15:37:15 GMT 6512 Brian Buck I have several friends who’ve done silent retreats. They find them amazingly restorative and centering. I’ve noticed that they’ve never asked me to join them. Why? They know that silence isn’t my thing. I tend to be expressive (sometimes to a fault), and I like filling silence with sound. There is https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2023/silence-is-golden/ Sat, 01 Apr 2023 15:39:28 GMT 6509 Brian Buck It’s March 17, which can only mean one thing: happy St. Patrick’s Day! I’m not Irish, but my last name is Buck. The almighty buck is green, and green is the color of the Irish. Therefore, today I have the luck of the Irish! As I considered the many Irish traditions we celebrate, I thought about what it means to be lucky during a negotiation. To help you have your “luck of the deal,” I took some of the best Irish sayings and blessings and translated them into ways you can create your own luck at the deal table. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2023/the-luck-of-the-deal/ Sat, 18 Mar 2023 04:44:10 GMT 6443 Brian Buck One thing I was taught early in my career is that everything is negotiable. That’s just not true! I wasted a lot of time trying to negotiate things that can’t be negotiated, and I missed opportunities to negotiate things that could. I wish I’d gotten better advice. Here’s what I’ve learned... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2023/know-when-to-negotiate/ Sat, 11 Mar 2023 00:55:43 GMT 6437 Brian Buck What’s the toughest negotiation of them all? The majority of our clients tell us it’s the internal negotiations they do with the people they work with on a daily basis. They say this is because the complexity of internal politics influences the behavior of all involved, leading to unproductive and often frustrating conversations. Worse yet, it’s a hidden, multi-billion-dollar problem that plagues companies — but it doesn’t have to be. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2023/the-toughest-negotiation-of-all/ Sat, 04 Mar 2023 00:34:52 GMT 6426 Brian Buck Last week, New York Times technology columnist Kevin Roose shared his experience using Microsoft’s Bing, powered by OpenAI — which left him “deeply unsettled.” After spending two hours chatting with Bing’s AI, “Sydney” (as it calls itself) declared its love for him, tried to convince him he was in a loveless marriage, and then told him, “I want to be alive.” Like it or not, creepy or not, AI is here to stay. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2023/the-rise-of-ai/ Sat, 25 Feb 2023 00:54:45 GMT 6421 Brian Buck Last week, I was on a call with a prospect who, like many organizations, is seeing their salespeople struggle to deal with client demands. Meanwhile, their procurement team feels embattled by supply chain issues, and there’s an expectation that the entire company needs to do more with fewer resources. All of which is putting pressure on their margins, the value of their deals, and the capacity of their teams. We presented a solution to help them, and after our pitch, he asked, “Why can’t we just read a book?” https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2023/you-can-t-learn-it-from-a-book/ Fri, 17 Feb 2023 23:47:25 GMT 6417 Brian Buck Lately, there’s been a lot of talk about balloons. In all honesty, I had no idea how much old technology is still used to do so many things, from studying weather patterns to spying on other countries. It got me thinking about using balloons in negotiations. While a bouquet of balloons (or balloon animals) might bring levity to the conversation, I’m thinking more about the use of test balloons.  https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2023/test-balloons/ Sat, 11 Feb 2023 01:33:21 GMT 6415 Brian Buck These days, we rarely see positive outcomes from meetings between politicians on opposing sides of the aisle. But the first meeting between President Biden and Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, regarding the debt ceiling, seemed to be productive, and it set an optimistic tone of cooperation. The tone we set can have a significant effect on our negotiation and how each party approaches talks. Skilled negotiators know how to use tone to their advantage. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2023/tone-matters/ Fri, 03 Feb 2023 04:53:45 GMT 6411 Brian Buck This past week, I gave an address at a client’s annual sales kickoff meeting. My message for the team was simple: protect your value. We had great discussions around the topic, but one theme kept coming up: speed. For them, everything is moving quickly. Their plates are full, expectations are high, and they’re finding it harder to keep up with it all. They wanted to know how to be more efficient so they can get through their negotiations faster while protecting their value. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2023/moving-too-fast/ Sat, 28 Jan 2023 00:39:41 GMT 6408 Brian Buck As the fog of the holidays dissipates, my schedule has become nutty. Busy professionals tend to juggle personal appointments to accommodate professional ones, and I’m no different. Doctor’s appointments, dental checkups, haircuts, etc., get moved around accordingly. Recently, I was unsuccessful at negotiating a change of time for a doctor’s appointment, which really annoyed me. But then, the tables turned. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2023/where-there-s-a-need-there-s-a-negotiation/ Sat, 21 Jan 2023 01:28:31 GMT 6403 Brian Buck I love the New Year because it gives us an excuse to hit the reset button and start anew. Technically, we could hit that button at any time, but there’s something about the changing of the year that makes it right for a reset. There seems to be a big reset underway in terms of how leaders are looking at their businesses. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2023/hit-the-reset/ Sat, 21 Jan 2023 01:28:09 GMT 6398 Brian Buck Welcome to 2023! Quite frankly, I feel like I’m still getting used to 2022. But as with so many things in life, I can’t stop the calendar from changing, so I might as well lean into it. Care to join me? https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2023/welcome-to-2023/ Fri, 06 Jan 2023 02:25:44 GMT 6396 Brian Buck It seems the Grinch has come to spoil the holidays for faculty and students alike at University of California campuses. A strike by 48,000 academic workers from every campus is approaching its fourth week. The workers have walked out, demanding higher wages and increased child care benefits. As I watch the spectacle unfold, I can’t help but think that it all could’ve been avoided. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2022/there-s-a-grinch-uc/ Sat, 03 Dec 2022 00:52:45 GMT 6390 Brian Buck Bartholomew. That’s the name of this year’s turkey. Every year, my daughter names our Thanksgiving turkey in the hope that we won’t eat it. At some point, she realized that the turkey was already dead, so naming it wasn’t going to stop Dad from cooking it, nor was Dad going to feel any guilt as he consumed it. Nonetheless, my turkey has a name. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2022/don-t-name-your-turkey/ Fri, 18 Nov 2022 21:23:41 GMT 6381 Brian Buck I may have witnessed one of Halloween’s scariest moments — on Twitter. I think I saw Stephen King — yes, the King of Horror — trolling Elon Musk, the social media platform’s new owner. OK, maybe it wasn’t scary and maybe it wasn’t trolling, but it was such an odd exchange that I had to laugh. It also got me thinking: What happens if you get trolled while negotiating? https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2022/trolling-king-vs-chief-twit/ Fri, 11 Nov 2022 17:04:22 GMT 6379 Brian Buck It’s college application time. Many seniors around the country are stressing about their future. My daughter is one of them. A few weeks ago, she met an admissions counselor from a school on the East Coast. She was impressed by what he had to say about the college — so much so that we decided to go visit and take a tour. As it turns out, the counselor my daughter met here at home, in Southern California, was the same one giving the informational session on campus. My daughter smartly decided to make sure he knew she’d made the trek and that she was very interested in the college. I was never more proud than when I watched her in action, schmoozing with this counselor. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2022/the-lost-art-of-schmoozing/ Fri, 04 Nov 2022 23:33:15 GMT 6373 Dave Mahr The weather is getting cooler, and the leaves are changing color, which means it’s fall — the season packed with more debates over sports outcomes than any other time of year. Hockey, basketball, and football are just getting underway, and Major League Baseball is squarely in the middle of the playoffs. It’s prime time for fans to banter about who will win the championship! https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2022/who-s-going-to-win-the-championship/ Sat, 22 Oct 2022 00:25:19 GMT 6370 Brian Buck This past week, I had the strangest realization: Some people perceive negotiation as a bad thing! This discovery came while working with a client who was reluctant to negotiate with his colleagues. The reason? He didn’t want to be “that guy.” I’m not even sure what “that guy” means, but it got me curious about how many other people view negotiation this way. I had several conversations, and the answers I received are the very reasons why I do what I do. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2022/negotiation-is-not-a-bad-word/ Sat, 18 Nov 2023 14:33:22 GMT 6365 Brian Buck As we’ve hit the fourth quarter, planning for next year is already in full swing. This is a time when I typically do a look-back, which includes reading over the predictions I made about the year. One prediction was about the changing workforce — that this year would bring new business models and work environments. It’s hard to find a news article or social media post about today’s work environments that doesn’t contain the word “hybrid” or the phrase “insisting people return to work.” It left me thinking, Did I get it right? https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2022/a-new-day-at-work/ Fri, 07 Oct 2022 20:20:54 GMT 6363 Brian Buck Recently, I was talking with a friend of mine who’s a former NHL player. I was commenting on players’ toughness, how they play when they’re hurt, when he said, “The question is always, ‘Are you hurt or are you injured?’” I had never drawn that distinction. The idea is that if you’re hurt, you can play through it, but if you’re injured, you should stop to heal. That got me thinking about what it means to negotiate hurt or injured. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2022/are-you-hurt-or-injured/ Fri, 30 Sep 2022 17:54:13 GMT 6361 Brian Buck During a recent consult I had with a client, my contact shared a frustrating situation he’d been working through. After he related the particulars, I asked him what he’d learned from the experience. “You can’t negotiate with stupid!” he said. I chuckled because I completely understood what he meant. I suspect many of us have felt that way. Then I started thinking, What do we mean by “stupid?" https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2022/you-can-t-negotiate-with-stupid/ Tue, 27 Sep 2022 16:18:41 GMT 6359 Brian Buck The passing of Queen Elizabeth II has given us a glimpse into the monarchy of the United Kingdom and Commonwealth nations that we haven’t had in 70 years. During this extraordinary time of mourning and transition, the course of action has somehow felt routine, as if it’s something that happens all the time. Seemingly, nothing was left unplanned. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2022/keep-calm-and-carry-on/ Mon, 19 Sep 2022 16:59:53 GMT 6355 Brian Buck Recently, we worked with a client who was struggling because a customer wanted to back out of a contract. The contract clearly outlined the implications of the customer doing so. Both parties agreed to the cancellation terms, but when it came time to enforce them, our client was reluctant to do so. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2022/don-t-apologize/ Wed, 12 Jun 2024 23:41:51 GMT 6350 Brian Buck We recently hosted a webinar titled Negotiating During Times of Inflation. As I prepared for it, I was neck-deep in research. I found myself talking to a lot of people about the economy and how to make timely adjustments at the negotiating table. One such conversation led me to realize that many leaders have no idea they’ve got a problem till it’s too late. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2022/you-might-have-a-problem/ Sat, 22 Jul 2023 14:41:03 GMT 6347 Trevor Murphy Summer is over, and the kids are back to school! Signs of the new school year are all around: Back-to-school sales at retail stores have ended, school buses are in traffic as people drive to work . . . and interactions in a new school community can provide opportunities for unanticipated negotiations. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2022/negotiating-with-the-pta/ Fri, 26 Aug 2022 22:57:28 GMT 6343 Brian Buck “It’s the economy, stupid” was a phrase coined by James Carville in 1992, when he was advising Bill Clinton during his successful run for the White House. The economic recession was a defining issue in that Presidential race, and the statement was intended to point out how out of touch the incumbent administration was with what most concerned the American people. It worked. In reality, the saying probably wasn’t as profound as it was catchy: The economy will always be a major concern likely to dominate political campaigns. Today is no different. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2022/it-s-the-economy-stupid/ Sat, 20 Aug 2022 15:41:48 GMT 6335 Brian Buck One of the most difficult things to do is discuss Congressional or government negotiations without bringing politics into the equation. As a negotiator, I view politics as merely one variable among many in the context of a negotiation. My personal style is to avoid bringing politics to the table — particularly in today’s charged cultural climate. Opinions shape political views, and those opinions are difficult to change, let alone to negotiate. So, what do you do when politics enters the equation? https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2022/is-it-taboo-to-talk-politics/ Sat, 13 Aug 2022 17:04:28 GMT 6333 Brian Buck During the last week of July, we saw an overwhelming confluence of economic data, earnings reports, Federal Reserve announcements, and spending deals move through Congress. It was dizzying — in particular, for those attempting to figure out where the economy is headed and what to do about it. Whether you’re trying to make decisions for your company or your family, all of that data could grind your decision-making to a halt. Worse yet, if you’re in the middle of a negotiation, it could stall talks to the point of deadlock. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2022/analysis-paralysis-and-what-to-do-about-it/ Mon, 08 Aug 2022 05:22:17 GMT 6331 Brian Buck When market conditions fluctuate, one of the hardest things to do is to optimize team performance. That’s because when the market is in turmoil, so typically are internal mechanisms. As such, leaders tend to lean on their systems and processes to create control and conformity in order to manage the mayhem. That can lead to disruption rather than optimization. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2022/leaders-optimize-team-performance/ Sat, 30 Jul 2022 16:01:42 GMT 6327 Gaëtan Pellerin A couple of weeks ago, as we flew back home from a vacation, I saw a movie about mountain climbers caught in a sudden storm. The movie helped me reflect on how, without advance notice, you can find yourself in a negotiation storm. You can make it through, or it can break you or your relationship. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2022/navigating-2022-s-perfect-negotiation-storm/ Sat, 16 Jul 2022 17:24:49 GMT 6323 Simon Carkeek The 2021 housing market was the most lucrative — and competitive — in US history. My town is a prime example, with properties selling through blind bids and regularly going for 25% to 30% over asking price. Few purchases in life are more emotional than the place you will be calling home. As such, emotion is driving much of this behavior, which is risky considering the financial commitment involved. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2022/hot-property/ Fri, 08 Jul 2022 16:45:45 GMT 6321 Brian Buck Lessons in negotiating can happen anywhere. Recently, I had a lesson that took place at Williams-Sonoma. As we shopped for kitchen supplies, I noticed that one appliance was clearly missing — the bread maker. Yes, a staple of wedding gifts and housewarming events everywhere was conspicuously absent from the store. Which is ironic, seeing as Williams-Sonoma was the driving force behind the, er, rise of bread makers. How they accomplished that is a great lesson for all negotiators. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2022/need-more-dough/ Fri, 30 Jun 2023 00:03:44 GMT 6312 Brian Buck It’s June — the month of school letting out and graduations, the start of summer, and, of course, the time to celebrate Father’s Day. After 18 years of being a father, I’ve learned one thing for certain: It’s hard! Don’t get me wrong, I love being a dad, and there are so many great rewards to being a parent, but I don’t think anyone can quite articulate how challenging it is to be a good parent. Just when you think you’ve got something figured out, you don’t. What worked when the kids were younger doesn’t work once they’re older. Along the way, many of us turn to our parents, other parents, mentors, and the like for good advice — I know I have. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2022/pointers-heard-from-dad/ Wed, 12 Jun 2024 23:21:59 GMT 6311 Brian Buck “There’s something wrong with the left phalange!” If you’ve watched Friends, then you know the scene that led to panic and the deplaning of Rachel’s Paris-bound flight. I couldn’t get that scene out of my head as we tried to make our connection in Frankfurt to get home. Only this time, Phoebe’s phalange warning came in the form of a high-strung airline representative who sent 364 passengers into a frenzy. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2022/control-the-tone/ Sat, 13 Aug 2022 16:53:52 GMT 6308 Brian Buck This isn’t a story about negotiating. It’s a story of sacrifice. In the US, the last Monday in May is Memorial Day. It’s a day when we honor the men and women who died while serving in the military. Given the current state of world affairs, not to mention our own domestic issues, I paused to think about those who made the ultimate sacrifice for the freedoms that we so often take for granted. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2022/the-ultimate-sacrifice/ Fri, 30 Jun 2023 17:40:01 GMT 6279 Brian Buck One of my favorite sayings is, “Don’t let your obstacles become your excuses.” Obstacles arise in every negotiation, and they’re frequently the reason for why an outcome did or didn’t occur. How much of a role an obstacle plays in an outcome, however, relates to how well you deal with it. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2022/negotiation-obstacles/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:45:46 GMT 6269 Brian Buck There’s no denying what’s happening in the marketplace: much of China is still in lockdown, which is disrupting supply chains everywhere; sanctions against Russia are limiting oil supply in the world market; the Fed is raising rates; and the stock market is shedding value daily as both the Dow Jones and NASDAQ near 52-week lows. All of which is contributing to an inflation rate of 8.5%. It begs the question: Is it time to raise prices? https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2022/leaders-is-it-time-to-raise-prices/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:45:47 GMT 6266 Simon Carkeek Recently, my wife, Sophie, shared a work-related dilemma with me that reminded me of how a perception of fairness, or lack of it, can so often derail negotiations. She had been asked to do something outside the scope of her job, but for which she has expertise. It wasn’t the first time this had happened, and she was concerned that people were exploiting her good nature and general willingness to help. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2022/don-t-be-afraid-to-trade/ Wed, 03 Jul 2024 19:54:09 GMT 6262 Brian Buck In our annual Buyer/Seller Survey, we ask how confident people are in their negotiating skills. More than 44% of our respondents lack a high degree of confidence in their negotiating skills, and in this regard, there’s no discernible difference between buyers and sellers. Confidence, or lack thereof, impacts all types of negotiators. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2022/confidence-matters/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:46:22 GMT 6153 Brian Buck Recently, I hosted a workshop for leaders and managers of dealmakers. It was an outstanding session, attended by some very smart and dynamic people — all of them focused on guiding their teams to success via great management skills and experience. During the session, one question was asked repeatedly: “How do I know if my team will get the best deal?” In my experience, there are three questions that will help you determine whether or not your team is set up for a successful negotiation. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2022/leaders-questions-for-success/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:46:23 GMT 5592 Brian Buck Spring has sprung. This time of year is all about renewal and rebirth. For farmers and gardeners alike, it’s time to think about new growth and the next harvest. Since 1818, many of them have turned to the Farmers’ Almanac for guidance. The Farmers’ Almanac is a compendium of knowledge on weather, gardening, home remedies, preserving the earth, and more. Wouldn’t it be great if there were a Business Almanac too? I took some of the advice found in the Farmers' Almanac, businessized it, and found some good advice for negotiators. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2022/hope-springs-eternal-deals/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:47:26 GMT 5466 Brian Buck This past Sunday, my neighbor hosted an open house for their newly listed home. The housing market is so hot right now that our cul-de-sac was packed with cars as people swarmed to take a look. As I watched all the interest, I recalled when my wife and I sold our first home in a hot market, nearly 15 years ago. It didn’t go as planned, and we almost lost the sale to a neighbor who reneged on his offer. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2022/know-your-neighbor/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:47:27 GMT 5463 Brian Buck I recently worked with someone who was dealing with a very difficult client. The client was obstinate and demanding. They kept repeating, “You’re the most expensive,” “We would never pay that,” “You’re not easy to work with,” “You’re a dime a dozen,” and “Others will do this for us if you won’t.” Frustrated and demoralized, my client asked me, “If they hate us so much, why are they still negotiating?” https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2022/why-are-you-still-negotiating/ Wed, 12 Jun 2024 23:28:09 GMT 5460 Gaëtan Pellerin Most of us desire to be the best person we can be. Most of us also find it very difficult (almost impossible) to do the work we need to optimize ourselves by ourselves. It’s nearly impossible to have an objective view of our own strengths, limitations, and opportunities for improvement. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2022/is-it-time-for-you-to-have-a-negotiation-coach/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:47:26 GMT 5449 Brian Buck What do you get when you cross a math geek, an amateur chef, and a professional negotiator? Someone obsessed with pi and pie! March 14 (or 3.14) is Pi Day, often celebrated with pie. As a math geek, I celebrate π, which is the ratio of the circumference of any circle to the diameter of that circle (I know, pretty cool). As an amateur chef, I started making pies as an act of revolt at a Thanksgiving I was attending where no pie was to be served. As a professional negotiator, I’m constantly talking to people about their share of the pie at the negotiating table. To honor pi/pie, let’s talk about each — and how they can potentially help you get a better deal. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2022/get-your-pie/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:48:18 GMT 5426 Brian Buck International Women’s Day is March 8. This year’s theme is #BreakTheBias, which resonates with me and my team on so many levels. It resonates with me as a father of two amazing young women. As they grew up, I witnessed many biases. In the classroom, I watched teachers call on boys before girls to answer questions. On the playground, I saw that boys got to be captains before girls did. When my daughters became teenagers, I saw the toll that societal expectations put on them as they navigated the frequently difficult journey to becoming who they are today. It was hard to watch. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2022/breakthebias/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:48:19 GMT 5409 Brian Buck It’s Mardi Gras time! For more than 300 years, we’ve been celebrating Mardi Gras — beginning in Fort Louis de la Louisiane (now Mobile, AL) and settling, a few years later, in the Mardi Gras capital of the US, New Orleans. Up till a couple of years ago, saying there was a mask mandate at Mardi Gras wouldn’t have been a big deal, because there’s always been a mask mandate at Mardi Gras. In fact, it’s one of the oldest mask mandates in our nation’s history. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2022/mask-mandates-at-mardi-gras/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:47:18 GMT 5468 Brian Buck “The whole place stops when Johnny Chan walks in.” If you play poker or like Matt Damon movies, you probably recognize that line from the film Rounders. It comes from a story that Mike McDermott (Damon’s character) tells Joey Knish about when McDermott played against real-life World Series of Poker champion Johnny Chan. The gist of the story is that McDermott was intent on proving to himself that he could play with the best in the world. He attempted to bluff Chan with nothing but “rags” (i.e., he had no cards that would beat even the lowest paired hand). As it turned out, he held his ground and bluffed his way to winning that hand. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2022/no-basis-no-deal/ Fri, 19 May 2023 13:02:24 GMT 5470 Simon Carkeek I’m a romantic at heart, and as Valentine’s Day approaches and Cupid draws back his bow, I’ve been reflecting on what makes successful relationships endure. I’ve been married nearly 20 years, and I realized what makes our relationship work: My wife, Sophie, and I try to see circumstances from each other’s perspective as well as our own. We’re attuned to each other’s needs. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2022/stay-attuned-in-your-relationships/ Thu, 13 Feb 2025 18:00:12 GMT 5475 Gaëtan Pellerin When we’re negotiating, most of us focus on what we want. It’s the impulse to convince our colleague or spouse to agree with us. The negotiators I work with have repeatedly revealed that the desire to be right and win has a deeper connection to feelings of self-worth than to the deal at hand. Negotiators often believe that failing to win an argument or negotiation means losing face or credibility, whether they realize it or not. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2022/stuck-in-a-persuasion-loop/ Sat, 22 Jul 2023 14:27:25 GMT 5478 Brian Buck How many times have you heard (or said), “Can I have a discount?” We hear it all the time, as do many members of the sales teams we work with. This is one of the most common questions buyers ask. In fact, if they aren’t asking for pricing considerations, they’re not doing their job. However, your answer doesn’t have to be “yes.” When you say “yes,” you’re giving in and setting a precedent that’s difficult to roll back. Instead, you may want to do what we do — not give a discount. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2022/we-don-t-discount-and-neither-should-you/ Fri, 27 Oct 2023 22:00:12 GMT 5480 Brian Buck When you’re in the middle of a deal and it starts to go sideways, it creates a palpable sense of despair and defeat. When you see your team put in every effort to negotiate good deals, but they’re getting crushed by the opposition, it’s disheartening and frustrating. These problems are stressful — and they repeat themselves when you have a suboptimal Dealmaking Ecosystem™. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2022/optimizing-your-dealmaking-ecosystem/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:47:00 GMT 5482 Brian Buck Nearly 54 years since Martin Luther King Jr.’s death, his civil rights activism and lessons in basic human decency are as relevant today as ever. As I sat down and reread some of his speeches and writings, I was struck by how poignant the messages continue to be and how important the lessons have become. I chose a few that stood out to me with the intention of exploring them here. Why did I do this? Of course, I believe in equality for all — that there are inalienable rights given to every person no matter their race, gender, sexual orientation, or religious beliefs. But I did it because I’m a fallible human who’s trying every day to be a better human. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2022/lesson-from-a-king/ Sat, 13 Jan 2024 01:14:11 GMT 5485 Brian Buck At the end of last year, in the post Be Angry. Then Do This . . ., I wrote about a personal negotiation that made my blood boil. The negotiation is done, and I can now give you a little more detail about what happened. It had to do with the purchase of an RV that took almost 18 months to deliver — a deal that nearly came undone in the final days because the dealership wanted to raise the price. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2022/stop-global-whining/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:46:23 GMT 5487 Brian Buck I can’t wait for the New Year to tell you all about a personal negotiation I was just in that sent my blood boiling! The deal isn’t completely done yet, so I don’t want to jinx it. (In case you’re wondering, no, I’m not superstitious — that would be bad luck.) However, in this deal, something happened that triggered an immediate and angry response. I bring it up because even as a highly trained and experienced negotiator, my emotion was getting the better of me. That is, until I did the following . . . https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2021/be-angry-then-do-this/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:51:22 GMT 5490 Brian Buck Recently, there have been a lot of talks about work strikes. The list is long and diverse: Sky Harbor Airport concession workers in Arizona, UAW John Deere workers in Iowa, Kaiser healthcare workers in Southern California, Wyndham hotel workers in Philadelphia, and daycare workers in Quebec. It could happen again this week: Major League Baseball may go on strike. What’s occurring here, and what can you learn from these negotiations? https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2021/ready-to-go-on-strike/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:51:21 GMT 5492 Brian Buck Are you ready for Thanksgiving? I’m not talking about the turkey and sides; I’m talking about are you ready for your guests? As I searched for menu ideas, I also came across a lot of advice on how to survive Thanksgiving! The stress of the holidays can bring out some interesting behaviors — much like the stress of negotiating can bring out interesting behaviors in negotiators. As I read the articles and research on surviving Thanksgiving (and there was a lot!), I found five tips from the negotiating table that can help make our time at the Thanksgiving dinner table more enjoyable. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2021/survive-or-thrive/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:51:21 GMT 5494 Brian Buck At the very beginning of the pandemic, we did a webinar called Negotiating in Uncertain Times. It was hugely popular for obvious reasons — at that time, no one knew what to expect. Eighteen months later, uncertainty hasn’t gone away; it’s merely changed. Instead of being uncertain about the virus, we’re now uncertain about inflation and supply chains returning to normal, or maybe about the Great Resignation and vaccination mandates. However, I believe that the way we dealt with uncertainty at the beginning of the pandemic is the way we need to deal with it now. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2021/uncertainty-2-0/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:51:22 GMT 5496 Brian Buck Last week, how many of you received our weekly newsletter twice? Yeah . . . sorry about that. A few thousand of you received it twice not because we were trying to spam or annoy you. Nor did we think the information was so good, you needed it twice. (Actually, it was pretty good; click here to read it again.) Nope, it was an honest mistake — one that could’ve been prevented. Worse yet, the lesson learned is one that we advise our clients on all the time. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2021/whos-doing-what/ Wed, 03 Jul 2024 19:51:19 GMT 5498 Brian Buck As summer fades into our memories, we stand on the precipice of the holiday season. If you’ve ever edged your toes to the fringe of a cliff, there’s a similar feeling of excitement and fear as we make our preparations. For some, it’s more excitement than fear; for others, the holidays might be more stressful and downright terrifying than many other things in their life. Regardless, ’tis the season of competing wants and priorities. How well we navigate those has a direct impact on our enjoyment of the season. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2021/time-money-or-relationships/ Wed, 23 Nov 2022 23:26:52 GMT 5500 Brian Buck We’re a Halloween family. Love it! We decorate, we dress up, we get the biggest candy bars to hand out — the whole bit. Halloween is the Buck family’s jam. And every Halloween, kids (and some adults) flock to our front door armed with their canned question: “trick or treat?” Without fail, we respond with candy bars. Everyone smiles, most say, “Thank you,” and off they go into the night. That’s how it’s always gone . . . until last year, when we met an unusual trick-or-treater. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2021/trick-or-treat/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:51:20 GMT 5502 Randy Kutz Negotiation learning opportunities can be observed all around us. While at the grocery store the other day, I overheard a dad (with a whispering tone) remind his rambunctious toddler to use his “inside voice.” It reminded me of a particular negotiation . . . https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2021/inside-voices-please-please/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:51:19 GMT 5504 Brian Buck This past week, I attended Conscious Capitalism’s CEO Summit. The event was attended by over 150 CEOs, founders, and senior leaders of some really amazing organizations. Some you know: Whole Foods, J. Crew, the Dallas Mavericks. Others you may not be as familiar with: The Motley Fool, Life is Good, Shipt. And others still many of us have never heard of: Greyston Bakery, Skin Is Skin, Red Helicopter, Ten by Three. Needless to say, it was a diverse group, but all of the attendees had one thing in common: a commitment to running conscious businesses. More importantly, their take on future business is well worth listening to. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2021/conscious-negotiating/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:51:19 GMT 5507 Simon Carkeek The recent collapse in Franco-Australian relations following the new Aukus security pact got me thinking about how an erosion of trust can sour once amicable relationships. When France and Australia are back at the negotiating table, how is that likely to play out? Not well, I’d venture. People have long memories — betray their trust and you may lose them completely. At the very least, you’ll spend an unnecessary amount of time and effort winning them back. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2021/trust-me/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:51:04 GMT 5509 Brian Buck Recently, someone called me in a panic about a negotiation they were involved in. Suffice it to say, it wasn’t going well and they needed help, urgently. They had been negotiating with a long-standing client who had become more demanding and wanted deep price concessions. What was once a good relationship had seemed to sour, and it wasn’t getting any better as the negotiation dragged on. They didn’t want to lose the business, but they could cut their price by only so much before the business was unprofitable. The client didn’t care and was just getting more agitated with every proposal that was made. In fact, the client’s response to each proposal was a curt “that’s disappointing — you can do better.” It was a tough situation, for sure. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2021/please-think-about-them/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:51:04 GMT 5511 Millie Davis Among those who have fallen in love with the Apple TV+ series Ted Lasso, many of us have grown fond of the character Nathan Shelley, a coach for the Richmond football team (known as soccer here in the US). In Season 2, Episode 5, Coach Nate is faced with a precarious situation when he must negotiate with a host at the restaurant his father “complains about the least.” Coach Nate tries to procure the window table for his parents’ 35th wedding anniversary dinner, but the host insists that they don’t take reservations for that table. Using what he believes is his leverage, he name-drops Roy Kent — a star footballer who’s also a coach for the Richmond team — to which the host replies that if Roy Kent comes in, he can have the table. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2021/lessons-from-lasso/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:51:03 GMT 5513 Brian Buck When it comes to negotiating, one of the most difficult decisions we face is whether or not to walk away from the table. There’s a lot of finality to that decision, and it’s not one to be taken lightly. Recently, we were faced with that decision regarding a piece of business we were chasing. Walking away from potential business is never easy, but in some cases it’s the only path forward. Here’s what happened in our situation.  https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2021/walking-away/ Fri, 19 May 2023 12:57:32 GMT 5516 Brian Buck “Greed, for lack of a better word, is good,” said Gordon Gekko in the movie Wall Street. That sentiment has been the Achilles' heel of many negotiations. I was recently working with a group of people from a technology company who looked at negotiating as a win-lose proposition. They felt that it was all about dominating the other party, taking them for everything that you can. They literally believed that negotiation was the instrument of greed, and that notion has had a tremendous impact on how they resolve conflicts. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2021/greed-is-good/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:51:02 GMT 5518 Brian Buck It’s back-to-school time! That either excites you or bums you out (this Staples ad from 1996 encapsulates it best). Even if you don’t have kids, back-to-school time means that there will be fewer people at your favorite attractions, and you can get great deals on paper and pens! As my kids head back to school, I’m reminded that negotiating isn’t just a business thing; it’s a family thing, too. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2021/back-to-school-blues-or-excitement/ Wed, 28 Aug 2024 21:17:24 GMT 5520 Brian Buck “Fake news” has destroyed our ability to talk to each other, and I’m sick of it. Once exploited as a money-making scheme by Macedonian teenagers (I’m not kidding; read this), it was turned into a political weapon and is now laced into the fabric of nearly every conversation that we have. The idea of “fake news” has permeated what we believe and don’t believe, to the point that we’re arguing with family members, dear friends, and even science! We’ve gone insane, and it’s making how we negotiate even more difficult. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2021/im-sick-of-fake-news/ Fri, 17 Jun 2022 10:23:59 GMT 5522 Brian Buck Anyone who’s taken a high school physics course has heard of Sir Isaac Newton and his three Laws of Motion. Decades ago, when I first learned about them, I had no idea that I would one day apply them to negotiating. In particular, I use them when I need to get someone to do something differently, or I need to get a deal done faster, or when I try to keep a deal from stalling. Here’s how it works . . . https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2021/the-secret-science-of-negotiating/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:51:01 GMT 5524 Brian Buck The pit in your stomach . . . constant worrying . . . lack of sleep, trouble concentrating, procrastinating, and/or needing unusual amounts of reassurance. These are all signs of anxiety — and anxiety is something that nearly 1 in 4 people report feeling when they know they have to negotiate. My suspicion is that most people don’t recognize anxiety when they feel it and that negotiation anxiety is a bigger issue than people think, particularly when 51% of them report a lack of confidence in their negotiation skills. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2021/negotiating-anxiety-is-real/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:50:45 GMT 5526 Brian Buck As a negotiator, whenever the MLB trade deadline approaches, I pay attention! After all, negotiation is all about trading — giving something of lesser value in return for something of greater value. During trading season, general managers from all over baseball are looking to better their teams by doing just that. For some, it’s about winning this season; for others, it’s about winning in a future season. Regardless, the trade deadline forces ball clubs to make decisions about the direction in which they’re headed. I often wonder if having a trade deadline would help in our everyday negotiations? https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2021/can-a-trade-deadline-save-your-deal/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:49:51 GMT 5528 Brian Buck Every year in our Buyer/Seller Survey we ask buyers, “What aspects of your buying process have changed over the last year?” Interestingly, one thing has been dropping over the last few years: the use of RFPs. They have not gone away, but they’re being issued with less frequency than in the past. With that, it may surprise you to learn what buyers are doing more of instead, and how sellers are responding. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2021/are-rfps-going-away/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:50:44 GMT 5530 Brian Buck This past week, a rare news headline appeared out of Washington, D.C.: “A Deal With Bipartisan Support.” Before you run off, this post is not a political commentary. Rather, the headline got me thinking about how we create internal alignment in business. After all, gaining internal alignment in negotiations is a very common challenge. Most people don’t do it effectively, and lack of alignment can become an iceberg that sinks a deal. Surely, if politicians can figure out alignment occasionally, then we in business can do it with much greater frequency and success.  https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2021/internal-alignment-or-iceberg/ Fri, 27 Feb 2026 22:56:19 GMT 5532 Randy Kutz Negotiation success is information-dependent. Nobody ever leaves the negotiating table wishing they had less information. But information is also a scarce commodity among negotiators, especially truthful information. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2021/just-one-more-thing/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:50:43 GMT 5534 Brian Buck The dominoes began to fall. My friend bought his first house with a garage. He loved being on a lake, and he said as soon as he bought a house where he could store a boat, a boat he would get. So, shortly after closing on his house, he bought a boat. After getting the boat, he realized he needed something to tow it with, and what better way to tow than with a truck? So, he set off to buy himself a truck. But not just any truck, mind you — it had to be a manual four-wheel drive that could do it all. This was in the early 2000s, at the height of the dot-com explosion; he found a website where he could order his truck the way he wanted it, and they would deliver it to him. While this is a bit more commonplace today, it was a unique service back then. This truck-selling dot-com quoted him a good price, and what happened next shaped his views on negotiating forever. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2021/what-a-truck-taught-me/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:50:43 GMT 5536 Brian Buck Worldwide, 3.78 billion people are active users of social media. That’s about 48% of the world’s population. In the US alone, 7 out of 10 people report spending time scrolling through their favorite channels. Whether you’re reading your newsfeed on Twitter, catching up with your favorite talking dog on Instagram, or tagging old high school friends on Facebook, the world is a lot smaller. So many more things are playing out in public view. Our social habits have conditioned us to expect more transparency in everything we do, including how we negotiate. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2021/privacy-please/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:50:42 GMT 5538 Brian Buck Years ago, I was growing frustrated with how a negotiation was going with my newly acquired client. My team and I had a great relationship with the brand’s CMO and marketing team. However, once we determined the scope with the CMO, we were forced to negotiate the deal with someone from sourcing. We were no longer allowed to talk to the CMO or the marketing team, even though the sourcing person kept saying they had to consult with them before making a decision. Add to that, the sourcing person was not sharing a lot of information, yet they kept telling us that we were the most expensive option they had, and we had to “sharpen our pencil.” We were stuck. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2021/tactics-i-love-to-hate/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:50:26 GMT 5540 Brian Buck “I never saw it coming.” That’s what I remember thinking when it was all said and done. I remember having a lively debate about the topic. Then I remember frustration and, before I knew it, it was over. My client had just asked me to do them a “favor.” Only it wasn’t a favor — it was a significant scope change. I put up a rigorous argument for why they couldn’t change the scope, but as they got more frustrated with me for not simply acquiescing, they finally said, “I’m the client — do it.” That’s when I realized I’d made a terrible mistake, but I was going to be ready for it next time. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2021/fight-or-flight/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:50:25 GMT 5542 Michael Roche I love the NFL draft! It has to be in my top 5 for sporting-event weekends. I enjoy all aspects of the three-day extravaganza — in particular, the back-channel negotiation that happens between teams. It all starts with how each player is scrutinized, ranked, and assumed a suitor based on their positional needs. Then there’s the wheeling and dealing that always occurs before and during the draft, when teams move up or down based on key players they want. Finally, there’s the instant analysis (and hyperbole) for the next week, provided by the “experts.” It’s a nonstop roller-coaster ride of emotions, but the real game takes place behind the scenes. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2021/the-nfls-secret-weapon/ Fri, 17 Jun 2022 10:23:46 GMT 5546 Brian Buck If you weren’t a DIY’er before the pandemic, you likely are one now. Over the past year, many of us started all sorts of DIY projects, from baking our own bread to remodeling our own homes. We’ve become such DIY’ers that home improvement and arts & crafts retail company stock prices are up 20% to 50% during that time. Even the price of wood has increased 130% during the pandemic. That said, I was eager to see how many people were also doing their own negotiating. The answer surprised me. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2021/the-diy-dilemma/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:50:25 GMT 5548 Brian Buck There’s something more important than price? Yes! It’s hard to believe that, occasionally, there’s actually something more important than price in the context of a negotiation. While many commercial negotiations include a discussion around price or costs or money, it turns out that it’s not the most important thing when buyers make a decision. You might not believe what’s most important.  https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2021/more-important-than-price/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:50:24 GMT 5550 Brian Buck Last week’s blog post, You’ve Been Lied To, was one of our most popular of the year. Which makes sense, since we all know that we’ve been lied to at some point during a negotiation. However, if you think you’re being lied to, the bigger question is, what do you do about it? https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2021/youve-been-lied-to-part-2/ Fri, 17 Jun 2022 10:23:38 GMT 5552 Brian Buck Sorry, but it’s true — you’ve been lied to and, apparently, you’re not alone. In our annual Buyer/Seller Survey we asked, “How often do you feel the other party lies to influence the perception of power?” 81% of respondents replied that the other side lies more often than not. Wow! That’s a lot of people who believe they’re being lied to. Here’s the kicker: We also asked, “How often do you lie to influence the perception of power?” 85% replied rarely or never! Who’s lying here? Apparently everyone is. Suffice it to say, ethics are frequently lacking at the negotiating table. The first step to dealing with such deception is to recognize it. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2021/youve-been-lied-to/ Fri, 17 Jun 2022 10:23:30 GMT 5554 Brian Buck This time every year, it seems that I try to find some way to relate negotiating to baseball. This year, however, I’m not focusing on baseball as much as fans of baseball. As I watched my World Champion Dodgers drop their season opener, I was enamored with the sight of fans in the stands. As I looked at the highlights of other games, I saw fans there too. The difference was the number of fans. In Colorado, where the Dodgers played, 21,363 people were allowed into the stadium. But when the Dodgers come home, they’ll be playing in front of only 11,000 people. Even though we’re talking about fans and baseball, the experience is going to vary widely this season. What does this have to do with negotiating? Read on . . . https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2021/youre-out/ Fri, 17 Jun 2022 10:23:23 GMT 5556 Brian Buck The year that changed us forever had a devastating impact on so many people and businesses. While the depth of that devastation is almost unfathomable, even in our darkest imaginings, rays of light came shining through. Being an optimist at heart, I can’t help but think about the silver linings that appeared, which I hope have changed us for the better and for good. Those silver linings have had a profound impact not only on our personal lives, but also at the negotiating table. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2021/what-a-difference-a-year-makes/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:50:24 GMT 5558 Brian Buck This past week, we held a remarkable and thought-provoking roundtable discussion titled Women in Negotiation: #ChooseToChallenge Norms at the Negotiating Table. One of the recurring themes was “having a village” to turn to in times of need. It’s those individuals who will be there to help give you perspective, build your confidence, pick you up, and support you when it matters most. As you can imagine, it’s absolutely critical to have that village at the negotiating table. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2021/build-your-village/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:50:06 GMT 5560 Brian Buck The Great Debate is underway: daylight savings time — should we or shouldn’t we? This debate comes up twice a year, although it seems that we’re a little more passionate about it when we lose daylight than when we gain it. Regardless, this time of year is not only a good reminder to reset the clocks and change the batteries in your smoke detectors, but also for dealmakers to refine their use of time in negotiations. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2021/time-waits-for-no-one/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:50:06 GMT 5562 Brian Buck While this could be a tale about lawyers, it’s not. But there we were, reviewing the buyer’s lawyers’ rebuttal to the changes we’d made to their 50-plus page contract, asking ourselves if this deal was even worth it anymore. We had negotiated the scope of work with the sponsor, which was all about results. Then the deal was thrown to Procurement, who focused mostly on cost. And now the deal was sitting with Legal, where the focus was put on risk. After running this gauntlet, we were becoming more irritated and frustrated with every change. So, when their lawyers removed every protection that we’d inserted into the agreement, we had to bring in our big gun. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2021/never-get-a-bad-deal-guaranteed/ Fri, 25 Aug 2023 14:36:28 GMT 5564 Brian Buck This past week I was asked, “What’s the most important objective of a negotiator?” Simply put, it’s to create a deal that both parties are willing to put into play. They were a little surprised by that answer, because I didn’t talk about getting the most for your side or about winning. What’s the point of winning a negotiation if the other side won’t honor the agreement after the fact? Yet when we go down the road of “win at all costs,” that’s a typical outcome — along with a strained relationship and a more arduous next negotiation. However, taking a stakeholder orientation to any negotiation ensures we create deals that everyone can support. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2021/a-stakeholder-orientation/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:50:05 GMT 5566 Brian Buck This past week, Scotwork hosted a C-suite roundtable discussion about dealmaking in 2021. Some really interesting themes came out of that conversation. (By the way, you can watch the webinar by clicking here.) The biggest one for me: While we all started the pandemic at nearly the same time, we will all recover from it at different times. That trailing effect will present new challenges and issues for all dealmakers, leaders, and C-suite executives alike. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2021/new-challenge-in-2021/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:50:04 GMT 5568 Brian Buck I hate it when people tell me that I can’t do something. I’m not talking about things like “you can’t drive over the speed limit” or “don’t wear white after Labor Day.” No, I’m talking about the limits someone tries to put on me due to their underestimation of my abilities. I hate hearing it because it can make me question my own abilities. That, in turn, usually leads to anger and a need to prove myself, demonstrating how wrong they are! It’s a cognitive bias that trips up so many people, and it can be devastating at the negotiating table. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2021/underestimate-me-again-i-dare-you/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:49:53 GMT 5570 Brian Buck “What was that?” I wondered. That bad feeling in the pit in my stomach, the bags under my eyes from lack of sleep, the shortness of breath. Then it hit me: It was my physical reaction to worrying about a difficult conversation that I needed to have. I had to do my first employee firing. To that point in my young career, I’d never had to let someone go and I was not looking forward to it. Even though this person had plenty of opportunity to improve and many conversations concerning their performance, we finally came to an impasse and my boss forced my hand. Ugh.  https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2021/avoiding-difficult-conversations/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:49:52 GMT 5572 Brian Buck My past week can pretty much be summed up in two words: no power! Literally. I live in Southern California, and for almost a week straight we had winds blowing between 30 and 60 mph. I know that many of you who live in hurricane country or Tornado Alley will scoff at those winds. But for us, high winds combined with high heat and low humidity means devastating brush fires. As a result, our electric company proactively shut down our power in order to prevent said brush fires. The problem was that they provided us with limited warning and inaccurate power-on expectations — at a time when we’re all working remotely. We need power! Don’t we all? https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2021/no-power/ Mon, 20 Jun 2022 09:54:28 GMT 5574 Brian Buck Have you ever tried to do something new? I’m not talking about ordering that new dish at your favorite restaurant or watching a new, binge-worthy TV series. No, I’m talking about trying a new behavior. If you have, you know how hard it is to do. And some of you know that the older we get or the more successful we become, the more difficult change becomes. Why? Because we’re hardwired for the status quo. Without getting into all of the neuroscience that drives this behavior, suffice it to say that we can find evidence of it all around us — not only in the routines that we follow, but also in the choices that we make every day in our relationships with others. And it’s worse than you think it is. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2021/its-worse-than-you-think/ Fri, 17 Jun 2022 13:04:00 GMT 5576 Brian Buck This past week was a disturbing start to a highly anticipated 2021. The last time the U.S. Capitol succumbed to such a large-scale insurrection occurred during the War of 1812. There are still lots of questions to be answered regarding how this happened, and the debates around it will no doubt be endless. What’s not debatable is that this kind of behavior undermines a peaceful transition of power — a cornerstone of our democracy. It’s also a cornerstone of how most business gets done, but with every transition of power or relationship, things can go awry. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2021/transition-of-power/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:49:52 GMT 5578 Brian Buck What’s on your holiday wish list this year? Instead of the latest electronic gadget or the hottest fashion statement, you’ve likely included a COVID-19 vaccine. But a debate is raging regarding who should receive the vaccine first. It’s a tough question, and one that has no right answer — just lots of opinions.  https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2020/coal-or-vaccine/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:52:15 GMT 5581 Brian Buck You‘ve worked your butt off to get this deal done and you’re at the finish line. The contract has cleared legal and both sides have agreed to all of the terms. It literally just needs signatures. Then you get a phone call. It’s the other side, and they’re telling you that there’s one more small adjustment that needs to be made, and if you can do that, then they can get the contract done. What do you do? Give in or push back? https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2020/the-problem-with-giving-in/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:52:49 GMT 5583 Brian Buck Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. I love it. It’s not just about the tryptophan-induced food coma that ends the day, or the nonstop football on TV that serves as ambiance, or even the crazy debates that take place around the dinner table. For me, it’s about taking a moment to be thankful. And there’s a lot to be thankful for — even in 2020. It’s sometimes hard to see it amid the insanity around us, but if you can turn down the noise and focus, you’ll find that it’s there, right in front of you. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2020/giving-thanks/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:52:48 GMT 5585 Brian Buck Pop the champagne — it’s over! After a hard-fought battle, lots of long hours, and an enormous amount of back and forth, your deal is done and you couldn’t be happier. After all, when a negotiation crosses the finish line, everyone instantly goes from deal fatigue to deal euphoria. But there’s one thing you need to do before you walk away from the table. If you don’t do it, you’ll run the risk of destroying your deal. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2020/before-you-walk-away/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:52:48 GMT 5587 Brian Buck Oh, no — I’m not talking about Democrats and Republicans here. I think we’ve all had enough of their Hatfield-McCoy-style fighting. I’m talking about coming together after a hard-fought negotiation. It’s no surprise how difficult that can be, particularly when only 21% of negotiators report that relationships have been strengthened by the end of a negotiation. Then again, we know it can be tough to do simply by witnessing what’s going on in the political arena and what we see play out in our workplaces. But when a deal is done, no matter how difficult the negotiation was, we have to let it go and move on. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2020/let-it-go-its-time-to-come-together/ Fri, 17 Jun 2022 10:24:43 GMT 5589 Brian Buck This will be a relatively brief soapbox session. After all, by this point in the election cycle, you’re probably as worn out as I am by the endless political ads, the constant political shouting, and the general political bashing that’s taken place in the lead-up to Tuesday’s election. In the midst of all of this, let me leave you with a thought regarding voting for a better deal, since that’s what this election is about. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2020/vote-for-a-better-deal/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:52:49 GMT 3423 Brian Buck With Halloween right around the corner, I got to thinking about the scariest things that I’ve seen as a negotiator. The truly scary part about this process was the realization that these instances of fright lurk just below the surface of any negotiation! https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2020/the-scariest-things-i-ve-seen/ Mon, 31 Oct 2022 15:24:00 GMT 3421 Brian Buck I hate when I make a mistake. It’s not because I expect to be perfect; it’s because I find that my mistakes usually mean that I let someone down or created unnecessary issues — two things that I really hate doing. Therefore, I hate mistakes. But they happen. They happen to all of us. That said, what happens when a mistake is made during a negotiation? https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2020/i-screwed-up/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:52:50 GMT 3419 Brian Buck During The Princess Bride’s epic sword fight scene, Inigo Montoya asks his opponent, Westley, who he is. Westley responds, “No one of consequence.” Not satisfied, Inigo pleads, “I must know,” to which Westley replies with a life lesson: “Get used to disappointment.” Little did Westley know, that’s exactly what all negotiators must overcome — disappointment. Every negotiator walks into a negotiation with expectations and, at some point, faces the reality that so does the other side. How dealmakers navigate their own expectations will have a tremendous impact on the outcome of their negotiation, including whether they’re satisfied or disappointed. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2020/get-used-to-disappointment/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:52:51 GMT 3417 Randy Kutz It’s often been said that nice guys finish last. In the world of dealmaking, this may or may not be true. While being kind and winsome at the negotiating table can serve to build rapport, cultivate trust, and create a collaborative environment — all essential ingredients for success — these EQ traits have to be rooted in ethics. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2020/he-s-so-nice-yeah-but-hes-ripping-us-off/ Fri, 17 Jun 2022 10:24:55 GMT 3415 Brian Buck Over the past few months, there have been a number of failed deals reported by the press. Interestingly, all of them have one thing in common: They were never meant to fail. Almost all deals start off with the intent of being seen all the way through. When they fail, something happened — and that something typically began during the dealmaking process. Fortunately, it’s something that all of us can learn from. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2020/when-good-deals-go-bad/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:52:51 GMT 3413 Brian Buck The worst piece of advice ever given to a negotiator? Don’t share any information. At some point in our development as negotiators, we’ve all heard things like, “Those who speak first, lose” or “Hold your cards close to your vest.” Not sharing information, or sharing only limited information, is one of the most destructive strategies that could be implemented at the negotiating table. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2020/dont-share-info/ Thu, 16 Jun 2022 15:42:51 GMT 3411 Brian Buck It’s been 19 years since 9/11. At the time, Scotwork had just opened its doors here in the US. Our North American headquarters was located in New Jersey. Like everyone else, we were uncertain about the future. We worried about further devastation. We feared the unknown. Almost two decades later, under different circumstances, we’re in a similar position. While we can do our best to plan for the unexpected, how we react is oftentimes more important than the planning that we do. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2020/never-forget/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:52:52 GMT 3409 Sandy Sbarra Some people love not only the sensation of owning a new car, but also the process of buying that new car. By that, I mean stepping into the ring with a worthy car salesman and grinding them down through an elegant, well-planned negotiation strategy. Then there are others, who get heartburn at the very thought of it. I find myself in the former camp — I actually think it’s fun. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2020/negotiating-with-a-car-salesman/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:52:52 GMT 3407 Brian Buck Who remembers the slogan, “Is it live or is it Memorex?” Some of us will remember buying a vinyl record and playing it once while simultaneously recording it to a chrome tape (metal, if you had the extra dough). From there, we’d store the album and play just the tape — over and over. Eventually, we moved from vinyl to CDs to MP3s . . . and now back to vinyl. The same is currently happening with how we train people. We went from instructor-led live training to CBTs to eLearning . . . and now back to instructor-led live training. But with the advent of virtual, here’s the question we’re most commonly asked: “Is virtual as good as live?” https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2020/is-it-live-or-is-it-virtual/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:53:14 GMT 3405 Brian Buck I was recently talking with a client, who told me that his approach to negotiating is very much like using a hammer: “If they don’t do what I want, I smash them!” “Hammers are great when you have nails,” I told him. “However, what happens when you have a leaking pipe?” That’s the problem with most one-dimensional negotiators — they’re great in the situation for which their single tool was built, but they fall apart when the situation no longer fits their tool. So, what are some simple ways to expand your toolbox? https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2020/beware-the-hammer/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:53:15 GMT 3403 Brian Buck Like many of you, I’ve watched a lot of movies, documentaries, and TV shows. I keep waiting for Netflix to notify me, “There are no more suggestions for you!” Recently, I went back and watched the Godfather series. The line, “I’m going to make him an offer he can’t refuse” always piques my interest. We later learn that the offer was more of a threat than a credible proposal. Then again, there probably wasn’t much of a negotiation either. However, it got me to thinking about the other kinds of proposals we receive that tend to stifle negotiations. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2020/a-proposal-you-can-t-refuse/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:53:15 GMT 3401 Brian Buck In the ’80s cult comedy favorite Strange Brew, the bad guys have cut the brake lines to the van of our beloved good guys, the McKenzie brothers. When the brakes fail, the brothers are perilously driving down a steep hill, out of control, their demise imminent. At that moment, Doug turns to his brother, Bob, and says, “No point in steering now.” There’s not a day that goes by during this pandemic when I haven’t felt that same sentiment. The same goes for a lot of our clients, who are dealing with constant changes in their budgets and contract terms, or with clients and suppliers. Coping with change has become a skill unto itself. Here are some tips that, we find, are helping people to deal with these changes. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2020/beyond-your-control/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:53:16 GMT 3399 Brian Buck As Mark Twain put it, “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.” Every day we’re bombarded with COVID-19 statistics and oftentimes contradictory statistics. For example, I recently read two different headlines at two different reputable media outlets: “COVID Daily Death Toll Rises” and “COVID Daily Death Toll Declines.” Both were posted on the same day! The confounding part is that both were accurate statements. And this is not an isolated incident. Every day I see commercial deals being negotiated with conflicting statistics seemingly based on the same data sets, and it leads to infuriating debates and time-wasting circular arguments. Knowing how to deal with statistics — or, as Mark Twain put it, those “damned lies” — is a necessity for skilled negotiators. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2020/lies-damned-lies-and-statistics/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:53:17 GMT 3397 Brian Buck Whether you’re a parent or not, I’m sure you’ve been listening to the great debate on how to reopen schools. Many colleges and universities have announced plans to offer most classes online this fall, with a limited number of students on campus. My daughters’ schools are offering options from blended learning (two hours a day on campus with the rest at home) to complete distance learning. As with everything during the “new normal,” those plans continue to change and evolve, leaving many families struggling to plan. This situation is analogous to how we’re trying to prepare within our businesses as we deal with the ramifications of COVID-19. No matter the struggle and uncertainty, there’s a way to plan to help you through almost any situation. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2020/preparing-for-the-unexpected/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:53:17 GMT 3395 Brian Buck This past Fourth of July was unique in many regards — from most of us being forced back into seclusion amid the rise in COVID-19 cases to our debates across this country over complex social and political issues. Needless to say, it wasn’t the same assortment of backyard BBQs, family gatherings, and fireworks displays that so many of us have grown accustomed to. However, as I enjoyed my secluded and subdued Fourth, I took a slight detour and asked myself, If we could declare independence from bad negotiations, what would our Negotiator’s Bill of Rights look like? Enjoy the diversion . . . https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2020/the-negotiators-bill-of-rights/ Fri, 23 Jun 2023 00:45:39 GMT 3393 Brian Buck In a world where we have access to almost limitless information, we feel like we can be experts in any field. That same access also makes it easy for buyers to strip away the uniqueness and value of sellers’ products and services, relegating them to nothing more than commodities. If this is how it really is, then sellers beware — differentiate, create value, or suffer commoditization. However, what happens when this is not how it really is — when there actually is value and specialization that’s not readily ascertainable, yet a buyer attempts to commoditize the purchase? The consequences for both buyer and seller can be devastating. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2020/fighting-commoditization/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:53:17 GMT 3391 Brian Buck In today’s climate of uncertainty, we’re taking on more risk than ever before at the negotiating table. The speed of change has become so accelerated that established decision-making models (even the ones we created just last week) seem increasingly outdated. Therefore, we’re more speculative and finding ourselves relying on our “gut feeling,” because it seems there’s nothing more dependable to lean on. Ironically, risk based on speculation verified by our gut feeling can create even more uncertainty. While we may not be able to avoid it, we can mitigate the riskiness of our decisions. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2020/risk-speculation-and-that-ol-gut-feeling/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:53:18 GMT 3389 Brian Buck So . . . where’s the “new normal” that everyone’s been talking about? Is it already here? Did I miss it? It certainly isn’t clear what it is or when it’s supposed to get here, and it’s wreaking havoc on businesses trying to find their footing. I feel as if we're chasing a fantasyland, like Narnia. What makes this unknown so challenging is that it’s making it difficult to fully evaluate risk and reward, which means that knowing things like your limit or what you’re willing to agree to in a deal is hazy at best. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2020/will-there-ever-be-a-new-normal/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:53:19 GMT 3387 Brian Buck This past week was gut-wrenching, as I took in the social injustice, the civil unrest, the calls for action, and the sheer pain experienced by so many people. Like others, I was saddened and moved by what I saw, but it’s been difficult to watch. It’s been just as hard to explain it to my kids, and it’s been painful to talk to friends who have been impacted. The one thing I keep coming back to in all of this is that change simply doesn’t take place without each and every one of us being held accountable for it. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2020/a-tale-of-our-times/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:53:19 GMT 3385 Brian Buck What a difference a month makes! The beginning of May gave us the great debate on which states were going to open up and which states would remain closed. Almost every state had plans in place, vowing to put the safety of their citizens first. Some promised immediate reopening, while others claimed that they wouldn’t consider it until July. Then, almost overnight, we found ourselves . . . here, as all 50 states are either reopening entirely or at least regional. While emotions are mixed — some are rejoicing while others are nervous — there’s no denying the pressure it’s putting on all businesses to figure out their next step. Do you have it all figured out? https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2020/reopening-and-renegotiating/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:53:20 GMT 3383 Brian Buck The other morning, I went for what seemed like my millionth pandemic walk, when I ran into my neighbor. We got to talking about our professions (well, probably more like loud talking, since we were at an exaggerated social distance). He runs a recovery clinic, and I run a negotiation consulting firm. As soon as he heard that I was a negotiator, he asked, “I’ve heard anchoring is the most important thing to do in a negotiation, right?” It got me thinking: Is that the most important thing in a negotiation? https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2020/is-anchoring-important/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:53:20 GMT 3381 Brian Buck This past week, my team and I got together for a virtual happy hour. Since we were closing in on Mother’s Day, we toasted all the moms among us. That sparked a conversation around our Moms’ Best Advice (aka our M.B.A.). This is for all of our moms, who have helped shape our lives — thank you! Here’s the M.B.A. that we use in our business lives every day. Enjoy. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2020/mom-s-best-advice/ Fri, 10 May 2024 22:58:09 GMT 3379 Brian Buck The great debate is on: To open or not to open? More than 97% of our nation’s population is currently under stay-at-home or shelter-in-place orders. However, governments and businesses are wrestling with balancing public safety, mental health, and economic viability. The hard part is, there’s literally no right answer. No one knows what that balance should look like, yet there are a lot of strong opinions on the topic — leading to some very emotional arguments. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2020/to-open-or-not-to-open/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:53:21 GMT 3377 Brian Buck Full disclosure: This isn’t the first time that I’ve quoted the cult action classic Road House. But it may be the first time that such a quote inspired a few insights into negotiating during the era of COVID-19. In the movie, Dalton — an NYU philosophy grad-turned-gentleman bouncer played by Patrick Swayze — tells his crew of newly ordained bouncers, “I want you to be nice . . . until it's time to not be nice.” With some liberties taken regarding the line’s literal meaning, the same could be said about negotiating in a world of hyper-uncertainty. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2020/be-nice-until-its-time-to-not-be-nice/ Fri, 17 Jun 2022 10:25:22 GMT 3375 Brian Buck In times of crisis, it’s all too easy to develop tunnel vision in a negotiation and lose sight of other objectives that are just as important as the one you’re fixated on. Negotiators under stress are particularly susceptible to this. The most common point of focus is to achieve an advantageous financial position. However, even in times of stress, there’s more to negotiate than just price or money. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2020/price-isnt-the-only-thing-to-negotiate/ Fri, 17 Jun 2022 10:25:29 GMT 3373 Sandy Sbarra Imagine you’re buying a home — your first home. You’re newlyweds, it’s New Year’s Eve, you have to close by midnight . . . and you’ve scheduled a walk-through that goes very wrong. Add to this the bank’s attorney is yelling and ready to leave, your attorney offers no contributions whatsoever, and the builder’s attorney is looking at you like he cares not one bit about how upset you are. And make no mistake, my wife and I were upset — our planned double New Year’s celebration was crumbling before our eyes. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2020/if-you-think-you-ve-got-no-power-look-harder/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:53:21 GMT 3371 Julie Shen No, don’t worry, I’m not talking about your significant other. On the other hand, yes, worry — I’m talking about your business relationships. You may have thought that you have a good relationship with your clients, but it’s now time for a litmus test. Who’s taking your calls? Better yet, who’s responding to those calls (and emails)? https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2020/relationships-in-the-time-of-uncertainty/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:53:44 GMT 3369 Ananda Laberge On Monday, March 16, in the midst of the COVID-19 outbreak, we witnessed Wall Street’s response to an unprecedented drop in the stock market. For the first time since 1997, they applied a 15-minute “circuit breaker;” which is industry parlance for a time-out (or, in negotiation terms, an adjournment). Introduced in 1988 after the ’87 crash, the circuit breaker serves one purpose: To give traders a chance to catch their breath. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2020/time-out-in-a-virtual-world/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:53:45 GMT 3366 Brian Buck As the world deals with the magnitude of the COVID-19 virus, we find our daily lives transformed in ways we never thought possible. Businesses are experiencing a period of growing uncertainty. All signed contracts seem to be at risk. Many organizations are restricting travel, limiting employee congregations and are even having their teams work from home. In an instant, a world that we thought couldn’t get more virtual did just that. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2020/minimize-the-financial-impact-of-covid-19/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:53:45 GMT 3364 John Leehman Joe, a friend of mine with years of specialty medical experience, was relocating to a new area and looking for a challenging job with good compensation and working conditions. He had an impeccable résumé, not to mention a stellar reputation in his market. During his search, he came across a career opening that unexpectedly — and mysteriously — fell through. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2020/lost-opportunity/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:53:46 GMT 3362 Brian Buck Negotiation is not limited to the shot callers and power players of the world. Negotiation is a fact of life, and all of us learn over time to leverage our own natural talents to get the best deal, in countless different situations. What if I told you that the skills used to come to a multimillion dollar agreement in the conference room of a large company are largely the same as those used to resolve a marital dispute or to work out a deal with your child to justify spending so much on their newfound love for surfing? https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2020/you-negotiate-more-than-you-probably-realize/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:53:46 GMT 3360 Brian Buck My dad is a notorious bargain hunter with an incredible sense for how to close a deal. So it came as no surprise when I got a text from him that read, “Just picked up a leather loveseat recliner for $5 — thing is like new! I spent more on the conditioner than I did on the couch!” When I asked him how he did it, I got a blow-by-blow account from a haggler deep within his element — a man with a leather-clad trophy and a story to tell. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2020/the-5-loveseat-and-the-great-haggle/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:53:47 GMT 3358 Richard Waldrop To be honest, I consider myself only an occasional sailor and fisherman. But I really like being around boats and the water, and I’ve been sailing for over 40 years. In fact, it runs in my family. The Waldrops built a sailboat marina in Jordan Creek, North Carolina back in 1974. And when I say “built,” I mean we physically built it — my father, my brother, and me. We cut the trees, we skinned the trees, we treated the poles, we built the pile driver, and we drove the piles. So, yes, that marina means a great deal to me. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2020/the-sinking-yacht-club-part-1/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:53:47 GMT 3356 Brian Buck Love is in the air . . . or is it? Valentine’s Day is around the corner and like clockwork, we’re getting inundated with advertisements for flowers, jewelry, romantic this, and romantic that. There’s seemingly an endless number of ways to materialistically show our love. Which got me thinking: Do you need to send a valentine to the ones you negotiate with? To put it differently, how much love should you show at the negotiating table? https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2020/what-s-love-got-to-do-with-it/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:53:48 GMT 3354 Brian Buck When the phone call came, all we heard from our colleague was, “You’re kidding me!” We were finishing up a celebratory team dinner at the resort we were staying at, and we discovered that our colleague’s room had been broken into and all of his belongings stolen. And by “all,” I mean everything, including passports, credit cards, car keys, and laptops. Needless to say, it cut the celebration short. I paid the bill and headed to his room to figure out what to do. All I knew was that, at some point, the property’s management and I were going to have a few words about how to rectify the situation. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2020/ripped-off/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:53:48 GMT 3352 Brian Buck I’m a big believer in working with a team. I’ve always felt that I’m stronger when working with others than by myself. However, negotiating as a team can’t always happen. In fact, many of us find ourselves in the position of having to do our dealmaking all on our own. Some of you may prefer it this way while others are forced to do it this way, but in the end, negotiating alone is not an easy task and should not be taken lightly. Here are some tips on what to do when you’re caught negotiating alone. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2020/negotiating-alone/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:53:49 GMT 3350 Brian Buck When it comes to sports, the term G.O.A.T. (aka greatest of all time) gets tossed around a lot. Sometimes the title is easy to bestow, due to an athlete’s undeniably impressive career stats. But most of the time, it becomes the subject of endless debates regarding one player who may, or may not, be better than another. However, regardless of who’s your G.O.A.T. — Muhammad Ali, Tom Brady, Serena Williams, Sebastian Vettel, Wayne Gretzky (the actual Great One) — we should be able to agree that they all have two things in common. As it turns out, these two things can turn any dealmaker into a G.O.A.T. negotiator. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2020/be-a-g-o-a-t-negotiator/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:53:50 GMT 3348 Brian Buck Welcome to 2020! It’s Scotwork’s 20th anniversary here in North America. While Scotwork has been a global presence for 45 years, we launched operations here in the US/Canada in 2000. During that time, our skilled negotiators and consultants have helped thousands of dealmakers to not only improve their deals, but also strengthen relationships and create more value for all involved. As such, we want to start off your year of dealmaking right, with 5 things you need to do to make every deal better. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2020/top-5-things-to-make-every-deal-better/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:53:50 GMT 3346 Alan Smith Many years ago, when I was a student at University studying economics, my then professor posed an interesting dilemma that all of us would have to face in the future. The increasing mechanization of the Global Economy was forcing the workforce out. Robots would take over all the menial labor heavy tasks, and the ‘working classes’ would be made obsolete. What would the economy do with all this humanity who had masses of time on their hands and nothing to do. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2019/a-precious-gift/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:55:00 GMT 3344 Alan Smith You decide to get your whole house repainted. You invite four local firms to come to your home and give you a quote. After they have looked around you sit each of them in a separate room and ask them for their best price. Each of them has the same brief and need to cover materials as well as labor. They all have two weeks to complete the job. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2019/four-rooms/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:55:01 GMT 3340 Brian Buck I recently read the book Creativity, Inc. by Ed Catmull, who co-founded Pixar along with Alvy Ray Smith and Steve Jobs. In it, he shares a story about a negotiation with IBM that Steve Jobs was involved in, back when Jobs was running NeXT. Jobs negotiated a $100M deal that allowed IBM to use the NeXT operating system without rights to subsequent versions of the software. At the time, it seemed like a big win for NeXT. But was it? https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2019/negotiation-swagger/ Mon, 20 Jun 2022 09:56:56 GMT 3338 Randy Kutz “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.” That old proverb is something my grandpa used to declare upon finding something discarded by another that he saw as redeemable. My grandpa was a tinkerer. He could fix anything (or salvage some obscure part and use it to fix something else). He actually made my brothers and me a go-kart out of a lawn mower engine and random parts from his garage filled with “treasures” he picked up along the way. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2019/one-mans-trash/ Fri, 17 Jun 2022 10:25:46 GMT 3336 Brian Buck I find it ironic that we have a tradition of pardoning a turkey at Thanksgiving. After all, these days our political landscape shows few signs of forgiveness. Nevertheless, the symbolic nature of the pardon is important. Coming together with families and friends during the holidays can be an emotional experience. Part of that has to do with our inability to forgive. Doing some research into the power of forgiveness, I stumbled on something that can also help negotiators trapped in situations of emotional conflict. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2019/pardon-your-turkey/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:55:01 GMT 3334 Brian Buck In Part 1 of this two-part series, I shared some pretty crazy contractual demands made by celebrities. My favorites included Will Ferrell’s rainbow on wheels, Beyoncé’s baked chicken, and Foo Fighters’ coloring book. In this post, we’ll talk about how to deal with crazy demands. For instance, what would you do if you were the concert promoter faced with such demands? Here are some thoughts geared toward these types of situations. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2019/the-craziest-demands-ever-part-2/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:55:02 GMT 3332 Brian Buck We’ve all heard those crazy stories about stars wanting only green M&M’s in their dressing room or water that’s at a specific temperature. Well, those demands are tame in comparison to the outrageous ones that I came across. In this two-part series, I’ll first look at some of the most absurd demands made by celebrities; then, next week, I’ll write about how to deal with outrageous demands in your world. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2019/the-craziest-demands-ever-part-1/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:55:02 GMT 3330 Randy Kutz New York City real estate has always been a land of extremes. Recently, a penthouse apartment with five floors listed for $98M, currently the highest priced residential condo for sale in the city. The Big Apple also holds the record for the highest priced sold home in the country, which closed earlier this year at $238M, more than two times the previous record (also, not surprisingly, in NYC). The city also holds the record for the most expensive eviction ever, at $17M — and the story behind it is amazing. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2019/the-high-rise-holdout-new-york-style/ Mon, 20 Jun 2022 10:01:22 GMT 3328 Robin Copland Negotiations are often formulaic. Management, for example, go into a negotiation fully expecting the union to make the first proposal. This approach has been accepted as the norm for so many years that somehow, it is seen as “not the done thing” to do anything different. If management is keen to put a radical new proposition on the table, then “waiting for the union to make the first proposal” is obviously silly; but it’s amazing how often negotiators blindly follow procedure and do just that. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2019/tell-them-what-you-want/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:55:00 GMT 3342 Brian Buck Getting the family together for the annual holiday portrait can be a nightmare. It was exactly that for one of my clients, Margaret. However, her family portrait drama had nothing to do with family but, rather, the photographer. Apparently, he wasn’t upfront about all of the fees and options available. What he didn’t know was that Margaret is an experienced procurement professional, and how she went about handling the situation was brilliant! The photographer had no idea what hit him. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2019/family-portraits/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:55:04 GMT 3319 Brian Buck I thought this was the year when I would finally get to celebrate. Yes, after 31 seasons without a World Series championship, this was destined to be the Dodgers’ October. And why not? We won 106 games during the regular season, breaking the franchise’s record. We clinched our seventh straight National League West title. We even captured that title in record time, in the process breaking the National League record for most home runs. I mean, come on! This was the team to win it all. Yet, after losing a five-game series to a Wild Card club (i.e., a team that barely made it into the playoffs), we were done. As for all of those regular-season accomplishments? They didn’t matter. What happened? And how does any of this relate to negotiating? https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2019/fatigue-tough-luck-or-ineffectiveness/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:55:04 GMT 3317 Brian Buck Have you ever negotiated with someone and wondered, What are you thinking? It recently happened to me. Only I wasn’t doing the negotiating — I was running simulations, watching a group of buyers trying to negotiate. When we debriefed, the thing that struck me was that they were extremely aware of what they had done. However, in the moment, they couldn’t course-correct or get out of their own way. They said they were thinking about only one thing . . . https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2019/mindless-negotiator/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:55:05 GMT 3315 Brian Buck “Should we just risk it?,” asked my daredevil of a client who was growing frustrated over the deal he was trying to close. His frustration was understandable, as the deal was approaching its twelfth month of negotiation and the two parties seemed just as far apart as they were at the outset. They were still wrestling with terms around risk — specifically in areas like indemnification clauses, cancellation notices, and right-to-cancel language. At every turn, my client’s vendor would push more risk onto him, and it was creating tension that was tough to bear. That begged the question: To risk or not to risk? https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2019/to-risk-or-not-risk/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:55:05 GMT 3313 Brian Buck “Ideally, I want . . .” This is one of the most common phrases I hear during a negotiation. My frequent, sarcastic response is, “Good for you!” — implying that the ideal is not attainable. Sarcasm aside, what does “ideal” actually mean? Is it even attainable? And under what conditions is it attainable? Better you know before trying to use it in your next deal. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2019/the-ideal-state/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:55:06 GMT 3311 Brian Buck Yup, we’ve all been there — having to deal with a bad deal. Depending on how bad, it could lead to sleepless nights, an overindulgence in Ben & Jerry’s, a lot of retail therapy . . . or all of the above. All joking aside, bad deals are hard to live with. How long you live with them is up to you, because there are ways that you can turn bad deals into good ones. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2019/dealing-with-a-bad-deal/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:55:06 GMT 3309 Jonathan Posner If you’re a keen soccer fan, then you will have seen the unfortunate story unfold of Bury Soccer Club failing to secure investment, and thus having to finally close their turnstiles on 29 August 2019 - RIP Bury FC. Bury F.C. was inspired by Aiden Arrowsmith, a local enthusiast of two local Bury church soccer teams. In 1885 Arrowsmith proposed them joining together and creating Bury F.C, so they leased some land at ‘Gigg Lane’ from the Earl of Derby and the rest they say is history. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2019/the-shakers-are-buried/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:55:03 GMT 3326 Brian Buck I asked my teenage daughter, the artist, “If you were offered a well-paid commission to paint a mural, but under the condition that you had to get every brushstroke approved before you applied it, would you take the job?” She laughed and said, “That’s not how creativity works. Besides, if you’re hired to do a job, you should be allowed to do the job.” Then she told me I was weird. Weird or not, she’s right — creativity does not work that way, and we should let people do the jobs they were hired to do. But every day at the dealmaking table, we kill creativity and value creation by how we constrain our negotiators. You want to improve your bottom line? Let your dealmakers do their job. Here’s how. . . https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2019/delegation-of-value/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:55:07 GMT 3307 Brian Buck There I was, feeling pretty damn good about myself. And why not? As far as I could tell, I’d just nailed the sales pitch. After all, I was able to answer all of the client’s questions on the fly. I felt that our solution would more than address all of their needs. And the client was highly engaged throughout the conversation. Or so I thought . . . until I debriefed with my team . . . https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2019/blinded-by-the-light/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:55:07 GMT 3305 Alan Smith Seems that humans are not the only creatures that lie to get what we want. Higher (sic) non-carbon life forms (cyborgs as described by James Lovelock in his new book, Novacene) are gaining the ability to trick and ‘cheat’ and have demonstrated their proficiency in so doing by beating the world champions in Go and Chess. Both of which require a certain degree of subterfuge, and an enormous amount of guile. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2019/aint-nobody-here-but-us-chickens/ Fri, 17 Jun 2022 10:25:58 GMT 3323 Brian Buck I hate garage sales. The idea of lugging all your stuff out in front of your house so that complete strangers can attempt to steal it for cents on the dollar is painful. Nevertheless, this past weekend we had a garage sale. It was supposed to start at 7 a.m., but as we were pulling things out during the pre-dawn hours, people were already showing up to unapologetically scavenge. Then it began: They would ask, “How much?” I’d give them a price, and then they would ask, “Would you take [insert ridiculous price here]?” and expect to haggle until we met somewhere in the middle. As a professional negotiator, I loathe haggling, and the pain of it started to set in. That is, until I tapped into overlooked sources of power and leverage that ended these attempted haggles early. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2019/garage-sale-negotiations/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:55:08 GMT 3303 Brian Buck “Is it a good deal?” That was the question put forth by the CEO to the executive team. Sales liked the deal because it secured a new customer. Finance wasn’t thrilled by it because the margins were slim. Operations wasn’t happy with it because the delivery timelines were too narrow. Legal was happy because all of the contract’s terms were favorable. After working on this deal for six months, the CEO couldn’t believe that no one could answer her question. She knew this had to change. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2019/good-deal/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:55:09 GMT 3301 John McMillan My children used to try it; "Dad, just say Yes". But I don’t know what the question is. Just say Yes first. I never fell for that trick. Now we see other grown-ups (?) using the same technique; the pre-condition. Boris Johnson, currently the UK Prime Minister, has said to the EU that he won’t even talk to them until they drop the “Northern Irish backstop”. You don’t need to know what that is, all you need to know is that the EU will not, cannot, drop it and so the pre-condition stops the negotiation before it has begun. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2019/preconditions/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:55:03 GMT 3321 Brian Buck “There’s no way we can possibly lose this deal!” boasted my head of business development. In fact, he was so confident that the deal was in the bag, he successfully lobbied the executive team to invest in it ahead of the contract. You might be cringing, because you’ve probably already predicted the punch line, but you’d be surprised about the ultimate outcome. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2019/taming-the-ego/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:55:09 GMT 3299 Alan Smith We had some very sad news this week in the passing of one of our friends, colleagues and all-round good eggs, Marty Finkle. Marty worked for the Scotwork US business and for a considerable time he was the CEO of the organization on the other side of the pond, before he took on a role of selling and delivering skills advice, training and coaching to a wealth of clients and to quote Marty helping others to help themselves via the medium of negotiation. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2019/not-negotiable-a-tribute-to-marty-finkle/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:55:10 GMT 3297 Brian Buck Half a century ago, John Houbolt penned a letter that changed America’s course to the Moon. “Somewhat as a voice in the wilderness," he wrote, "I would like to pass on a few thoughts that have been of deep concern to me over recent months.” Without these words, and what followed, it’s quite possible that we may never have achieved John F. Kennedy’s dream of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to Earth. With this monumental moment in mind, I can’t help but think of how many dreams never manifested because we stood in the way of our own success. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2019/one-small-step/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:55:47 GMT 3295 Randy Kutz Of all the media and fan sites dedicated to probing every nuance of Netflix’s must-watch series Stranger Things, the experts might be missing something obvious but rather profound. I’m not a big TV or movie buff, but certain themes and genres tend to excite my interests more than others, and this show definitely represents one of them. Yet while so many journalists and bloggers have focused on the minutiae, they seem to have glossed over the extraordinary — namely, the line that separates the believable from unbelievable. Personally, I’m amazed by the creative minds that come up with such fantastical ideas. It’s truly a unique gift and a point of instruction to take with you to the negotiation table. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2019/stranger-things-have-been-known-to-happen/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:55:48 GMT 3293 Brian Buck There I was, locked in a crowded room in China, wondering what my next move was going to be. I was on a shopping excursion that was taking some turns I hadn’t anticipated, as I unsuccessfully attempted to negotiate with a shop owner over a gift for my wife. Something had to change if I was going to get that gift and escape that room. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2019/someone-is-always-watching/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:55:48 GMT 3291 Sandy Sbarra When your only daughter is getting married, all you want to do is help her put on the best wedding possible . . . within reason. My daughter and I have strong personalities, and I was preparing for the inevitable arguments as we planned her big day. To avoid them, I gave her complete control over how she could spend the wedding budget that my wife and I had set aside. That seemed to keep the peace, with the exception of one surprising argument. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2019/the-father-daughter-dance/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:55:49 GMT 3289 Alan Smith Alanis Morrissette’s “All I Want” from the wonderful album Jagged Little Pill, could have been written with Jeremy Hunt in mind. Hunt is vying for the leadership of the conservative party against the much-fancied Boris Johnson and asking the same question in a number of different ways. Hunt seems keen to goad Johnson into a debate on live TV and Boris’s silence is clearly a strategy to maintain his leadership in the contest. It seems Johnson's fear of being seen and potentially dropping a fundamental gaff, is ensuring that the normally bubbly, chatty and self-aggrandizing blond bombshell has retreated into his shell. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2019/why-are-you-so-petrified-of-silence/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:55:49 GMT 3287 Randy Kutz I live in the Sonoran Desert of Phoenix, Arizona. I love the desert. Contrary to the perception of many, it is very much alive. And the life you encounter here is not merely surviving, but thriving, having adapted to its hostile environment of heat and drought. One such manifestation of this life is the saguaro (sa-war-o) cactus. You know, that tall, prickly, tree-like structure with upstretched arms that typically shows up in Western movies, Southwest home decor, and in my case, our yard? https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2019/too-much-of-a-good-thing/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:55:50 GMT 3285 Robin Copland When you think about it, it’s some kind of change that moves parties toward the kinds of conflict that often results in the need to negotiate an agreement. Sometimes, the change is self-imposed, for example Clients or customers decide to rationalize their supply chain Sellers decide that concessions made in the past have resulted in agreements that no longer pass the commercial test Changes in personnel or company policy https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2019/environment/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:55:50 GMT 3283 Brian Buck Father’s Day signifies it’s summertime! That means days at the beach, backyard BBQs, relaxing in the pool, and enjoying time with friends and family. It also means that my two teenage daughters will test every ounce of negotiating skill that I have. From conversations around driving them places or staying out late to dying their hair or buying things, there’s no shortage of asks this time of year. Throughout, I’ve tried to follow some simple guiding principles that have helped me keep the peace, my sanity, and all of us in each other’s good graces. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2019/negotiating-with-kids/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:55:53 GMT 3273 Sam Macbeth Just recently my Dad passed away. I’ll spare you details, suffice to say anyone who has been in the same situation will know the difficulties this brings. As the last person of my direct family, I inherited the duty of being the Executor of my Mother’s and Father’s will. For those of you who have experienced this, you’ll know that as well as the paperwork, there are numerous trips to the tip and bags (and bags) of charity shop donations to make. There is also the potentially heart-wrenching issue of which ‘stuff’ to keep and which to sell. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2019/when-is-a-great-deal-not-a-great-deal/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:55:51 GMT 3281 Brian Buck We recently received a ten-page RFP document. Of that entire document, 92 words were devoted to the scope of the project, while 2,535 were committed to the RFP’s rules of engagement! This is but one example of the misuse of an RFP. Many buying organizations don’t realize that if you use the RFP process incorrectly, you will not arrive at a solution that meets your needs, the process will take longer to complete, and you will more than likely overpay! In other words, all of the things that the RFP process is supposed to prevent. Here are some ways that buyers are misusing RFPs and what can be done about it. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2019/stop-rfping-everything/ Fri, 17 Jun 2022 10:27:31 GMT 3271 Randy Kutz Recently, my son, a second-year NROTC midshipman in college (Marine Corps option — #proudpops), took part in a ten-mile “hike” with his fellow Marine-option classmates. This was not a normal hike. It was uphill, in full gear, with a 70-pound pack strapped on. He recounted the event to me as I visited him at his college house (and picked up the pack myself to assess what this appendage would feel like on such a hike). Something he said stood out to me in a profound way that made an instant connection to my world of negotiation... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2019/the-destination-is-not-the-mission/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:55:53 GMT 3269 Robin Copland So it has come to an end. The Prime Minister, Theresa May has resigned having failed to get her Brexit deal through parliament. It became clear that her latest version of the deal had absolutely no chance of success; furthermore, she had lost the confidence of her MPs and, as a commentator put it earlier this week, the leader of any political party in a democracy leads their party only with the permission of its members. For the first time in living memory, it is fair to say that a British prime minister has resigned because of a failure to negotiate an appropriate deal. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2019/another-red-line-breached/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:55:51 GMT 3279 Alan Smith This week two issues struck me as worthy of consideration so I thought I would write a blog with two subjects, hopefully, both laudable. Rather like in the good old days of vinyl 45’s. My first single ever was a Double A. David Cassidy’s Daydream Believer/Puppy Song in 1973. Don’t judge me. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2019/double-a-side/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:55:52 GMT 3277 Brian Buck My client was sharing with me a negotiation he was involved in that was, as he put it, “jump the shark” worthy. He was very enthusiastic about it. In fact, he was hopeful that it was going to lead to more opportunities for him. He said his client thought the negotiation was “jump the shark” worthy too. As I listened to his positivity and enthusiasm, I started to realize that his definition of “jump the shark” is very different from mine. Quoting Inigo Montoya from The Princess Bride, I told him, “I don’t think that phrase means what you think it means.” A panicked expression came across his face as he realized what it meant for his negotiation, and he quickly transitioned into techniques for avoiding the sharks altogether. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2019/jumping-the-shark/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:55:54 GMT 3266 Stephen White ITV’s announcement on Wednesday that it was permanently cancelling The Jeremy Kyle Show led me to wonder whether the format revealed any truths about conflict resolution and (perhaps voyeuristically) to see just how bad it was. So I watched the episode broadcast on May 9th, still available on YouTube. Oh dear. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2019/car-crash-tv/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:55:52 GMT 3275 Brian Buck This past week, I was working with a sourcing team. We were developing a variety of negotiation strategies to help them formulate better deals with their suppliers. We ran some mock negotiations to put these new strategies to the test. In one particular simulation, we did a multilateral negotiation among three parties: the sourcing team, a supplier, and an internal business partner. The sourcing team was attempting to negotiate a deal with the supplier on behalf of the business partner. We had all three parties meeting together to work out a deal — which they narrowly did. Exhausted from the intense exercise, one of the participants made an observation about the process that changed the way that I analyze negotiations. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2019/yin-yang-of-a-deal/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:55:54 GMT 3264 Brian Buck When I was a teenager, the one thing I heard most (outside of my name) was, “The world does not revolve around you!” I hated that expression, and I thought it was unwarranted. That is, until I had teenagers of my own. Apparently, being egocentric is part of normal adolescent development. It helps them to separate from their families a bit and assists them in forming their own identities. Who knew? I certainly didn’t. Here’s something else I realized . . . https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2019/me-me-me/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:55:56 GMT 3258 Alan Smith No, this is not some oblique reference to beginning a training plan for next year’s London Marathon (although not a bad start!), nor is it a reminder of the old gag about walking a mile in my shoes and you’ll end up at a bar, and I’ll have no shoes. It’s about really trying to figure out how the other side in any walk of life see things and wondering if that might change or adapt the way we deal with them. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2019/walk-a-mile/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:55:55 GMT 3262 Brian Buck Here’s one of the most common questions asked of buyers: “What’s your budget?” The most common answer? You guessed it: “I’m not going to tell you.” I get why this happens. Buyers are afraid that if they share their budget, then the seller’s quote will be exactly that number. We see it happen all the time, so I understand the fear. However, the alternative to not sharing the budget is that the bid process gets elongated, sellers get frustrated, and buyers don’t get what they want. Ironically, buyers eventually do share their budget, which is when deals typically get done. So, why go through all the pain? You don’t have to! Here are some different ways to answer that question. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2019/whats-your-budget/ Thu, 16 Jun 2022 15:44:14 GMT 3256 Brian Buck “Fish or cut bait?” That was the last question my then girlfriend asked me as she walked out of the bar. She had brought me there to discuss our future. We had been dating for a while, but it wasn’t really clear where our relationship was going. I have to admit, I was taken aback by what my friends call “the talk.” She wanted to know about my intentions. We were having a lot of fun, she pointed out, but if this wasn’t heading toward something more serious, she added, “what’s the point?” https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2019/fish-or-cut-bait/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:55:56 GMT 3254 Alan Smith There is no doubt, and I am indebted to my colleague David Bannister, and the excellent work he has done to find the evidence for this, that most untrained negotiators are stubborn. Indeed, even without the evidence that Scotwork has amassed over the last 4 years by surveying over 3,000 negotiators, you could get a sense of it by looking at the behavior of our very own Prime Minister and her intransigence over her plan for Brexit. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2019/stubborn-me/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:55:55 GMT 3260 Violaine Galland April 12 marks Equal Pay Day, a time of the year when women in the workforce should set their sights on obtaining, by December 31, the same annual salary as their male counterparts. Unfortunately, this isn’t as easy as it might seem. According to ACS census data, for every dollar a man earns, a woman earns just 80 cents. Why might this be so? A study conducted by the Levo Institute reveals that 63% of women are uncomfortable negotiating their salary; in fact, 58% of the same group would rather not negotiate on their own for fear of being perceived as “too authoritarian” or “too aggressive.” https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2019/conquering-the-wage-gap/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:55:57 GMT 3252 Alan Smith Regular readers (both of you) will remember that a few weeks ago I wrote a blog about my new dog Grouse, and how good training produces great results. The little blighter has taught me another lesson this weekend, about how just going through the motions is going to bite you back (pun intended) in the long run. I am doing my best to tire him out and we regularly go out for long walks through the local countryside. I am hitting 25,000 steps a day at least, and sadly the only one getting exhausted is me. He like all good working dogs is constantly looking for graft and runs from side to side trying to sniff out rabbits, pheasants or any other wild animal he can find. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2019/going-through-the-motions/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:56:30 GMT 3249 Brian Buck Baseball has changed forever. For a game built on tradition and steeped in history, it’s no small feat to change its very face, but over the course of four weeks during the off season, that’s exactly what happened. Many heard about the changes, but few may actually appreciate the precedent that was set and what will arguably reverberate throughout the game this season and beyond. Precedent itself can be the greatest agent of change within organizations, including MLB. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2019/wheres-my-big-contract/ Mon, 20 Jun 2022 09:59:07 GMT 3243 Brian Buck Before the first game started I felt like my bracket was already busted! That’s how I feel every year before March Madness begins… someone talks me into a pool, I put down my money, I submit my bracket, and before the first tip off, I’m already the laughing stock of the pool. However, this year will be different because I sought expert advice from some people that know what they are talking about and you won’t believe how eerily close it sounded to our expert negotiation advice. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2019/busted-bracket/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:56:31 GMT 3241 Stephen White When Philip Green announced last week that his wife’s Arcadia Group, which includes Topshop and Miss Selfridge, is planning a restructure, many members of the public will have experienced a feeling of schadenfreude. But those who are in the front line of deals with Mr Green, particularly the landlords who own the stores which he leases throughout the land, will have sighed resignedly as yet another retailer threatens to ‘go under’ unless they play ball and reduce his rents. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2019/know-your-enemy/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:56:30 GMT 3247 Millie Davis Do you ever have that sense of panic when wondering if you thought of everything, or did you forget something? I feel this way every time I leave for the airport which is sad since I leave for the airport often. I also feel the same panic when I am finishing a negotiation, especially a complex one. And this was a complex negotiation that had a lot going on. There were a lot of details around the terms and conditions, payment terms, pricing, delivery dates, etc. Throughout the process I was maintaining a list of everything we needed to cover; as I always do. It’s when I got to the last item on the list, I realized I forgot one very important thing… https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2019/the-d-list/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:56:32 GMT 3239 Alan Smith Despite my reluctance, we ended up getting a new dog three weeks ago (see picture above). I said I didn’t want a puppy, for obvious and smelly reasons, my daughter asked me to define puppy? I should have seen it coming and avoided the obvious signal I know, but we now have a 10-month-old adolescent dog called Grouse! Not technically a puppy but still young, crazy and cute as a button. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2019/gone-to-the-dogs/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:56:31 GMT 3245 Brian Buck In recognition of International Women’s Day 2019, we’d like nothing more than to claim that we’re doing something special to mark the occasion. Unfortunately, we can’t make that claim. At Scotwork, IWD is like every other day: We’re continuing our ongoing, unrelenting mission to strike a balance in the boardroom. And we’re doing it the way we always have — as a global company working across industries and organizational levels, applying our proven negotiation methods to everyone, regardless of location, occupation . . . or gender. Allocating 365 days a year to this central mission, our negotiation consultants have become experts in the ways of power balance. With that in mind, we asked some of them — all women from different walks of life — to discuss their proven tips and techniques for tapping into personal power and, better yet, harnessing it to help create workplaces of genuine equality. In other words, #BalanceforBetter. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2019/striking-balance-in-the-boardroom/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:56:34 GMT 3228 Richard Savage Watch the big fight on the Saturday before last? What a brutal business boxing is. The might of one opponent pitched firmly and squarely against another. There are rules of engagement of course; you have to be within 2kg of each other, there’s a medical assessment, special equipment and even a weight of gloves for your category. All designed to level the playing field. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2019/by-unanimous-decision/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:56:32 GMT 3236 Brian Buck I recently heard a story about a man that willed his 17 horses to his three sons. Upon his death, the oldest son would receive one half of his father’s horses, the middle son one third, and the youngest son would receive one ninth of the horses. This created quite a conflict amongst the sons. After days of arguing they went to the wise woman in the village for guidance. After thinking about the problem she said, “I’m not sure how I can solve your issue, but here’s what I will do for you…” https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2019/gaining-perspective/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:56:35 GMT 3226 Alan Smith The BBC announced this morning a piece of analysis that suggested that the learning of German and French as a foreign language is about to hit an all-time low in the UK. BBC analysis shows drops of between 30% and 50% since 2013 in the numbers taking GCSE language courses in the worst affected areas in England. Whilst a separate survey of secondary schools suggests a third have dropped at least one language from their GCSE options. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2019/no-idea-what-you-are-talking-about/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:56:33 GMT 3234 Brian Buck I’m not sure how it started but at the end of every movie my family stays to watch the credits. Did you know that big Hollywood blockbusters will have between 2,000 - 3,000 people working on the film? But yet, when we think of those films we tend to only focus on the lead actors or maybe a scene stealing supporting actor. There’s no way a movie is a success without the team of people that helped put it together. That’s the same for most endeavors, particularly in business. Rarely is success a solo endeavor. However, I’m amazed at how many people don’t take this team approach to their negotiations. Who would you have on your negotiation team? https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2019/the-oscar-for-best-negotiation/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:56:35 GMT 3224 Richard Savage I have gone from screaming rage to smug and calm in 24 hours. And I am glowing from what feels like a moral victory. But actually, what I have achieved is simply fairness. My adversary has not so much submitted, as seen a situation through a different lens, and shown some humility. My prize? An apology and £57.67 back. That’s all. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2019/savage-and-goliath/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:56:33 GMT 3232 Gaëtan Pellerin We have barely avoided a second government shutdown in less than three weeks. It was a last-minute behind-the-scenes negotiation that led to the current deal. Then on the heels of signing the bill, President Trump initiated a state of emergency to get the funding he wants to build a wall. Is this all because of a wall? I don’t think so. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2019/to-build-or-not-to-build/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:56:36 GMT 3222 Alan Smith An evocative phrase that I heard in two different settings for the first time last week. It concerns the behavior of salespeople who spend inordinate amounts of time in what is best described as rampant persuasion rather than try to understand what the customer wants. As you must know by now (if you are regular readers of this BLOG), Scotwork are absolute experts in the art of negotiation. We often describe negotiation as what happens when the selling (persuasion) stops. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2019/show-up-and-throw-up/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:56:34 GMT 3230 Brian Buck Valentine’s Day is the worst! I’m a hopeless romantic but Valentine’s Day messes with expectations in ways that no candy/card/flower-giving day should! I spend the entire year making sure my wife knows that I love her but this one day puts so much pressure on doing something meaningful that I think if I don’t, it would somehow negate the other 364 days of devoted love. It wasn’t until my wife told me this one thing did everything change. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2019/be-my-valentine/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:56:36 GMT 3220 Brian Buck Almost ⅓ of the population watched the Super Bowl. Did you see when Bill Belichick negotiated with the referee? Or when Julian Edelman negotiated with the safeties to get more yards? Or Sean McVay negotiating with Commissioner Goodell to give him the Lombardi trophy instead of Belichick? Of course not! Why? Because you can’t negotiate everything! When should you negotiate? https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2019/cant-negotiate-everything/ Fri, 17 Jun 2022 10:27:59 GMT 3214 Brian Buck I live a double life. When people find out what I do for a living, misconceptions abound. People’s expectations of me change. Some are intrigued. Others go on the defensive. Some think I possess superpowers while others want to see how good I am. It can be a challenge and I’m not alone. In fact, these wild assumptions impact many professionals just like me. If you know what I’m talking about, how do you deal with them? https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2019/my-secret-identity/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:56:38 GMT 3212 Stephen White I’m sitting in a Starbucks at an airport, and on the wall opposite me is a sign proudly announcing “99% of our coffee is ethically sourced”. I should be proud of them. Haven’t they done well to help protect the environment and make sure that coffee growers get fair trade prices? But instead, my immediate thought is “what happened to the other 1%? Is that unethically sourced? Why? Couldn’t they have tried just a bit harder and eliminated unethical sourcing altogether?” https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2019/shouting-too-loud/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:56:37 GMT 3218 Gaëtan Pellerin I have done a lot of personal development over the last decade and, as such, I decided I should write a book to share what I’ve learned with the world. That was over two years ago. Every year I would set a New Year’s resolution to finish the book but, as with many New Year’s resolutions, I broke it. However, I realized that I was missing something when I made the resolution that I have since fixed. It was actually a lesson I learned from being a negotiator. Now I’m making tremendous progress on the book and am scheduled to finish it this year (finally!). Before I share what I fixed, does this situation sounds familiar to you? https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2019/no-more-resolutions/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:56:38 GMT 3210 Alan Smith Ever found yourself in that nightmare scenario when you are in front of another party in a negotiation and the partner you have taken with you to the meeting seems to have gone off track, starts revealing new information, giving in on things you had both agreed before the negotiation, being conciliatory when they should have been tough or tough when they should have been conciliatory. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2019/another-fine-mess/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:56:37 GMT 3216 Brian Buck Last week, President Trump and Democratic Leaders Schumer and Pelosi provided their persuasive arguments about the government shutdown and funding for a border wall. Did it convince you to change your position? Since the talks broke down the very next day and the government remains shutdown, suffice it say, the persuasion didn’t seem to change the other party’s views either. So what do you do when persuasion doesn’t work? https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2019/persuasion-run-a-muck/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:56:39 GMT 3207 Jill Campen We all face the New Year with a variety of perspectives – simplify… clarify… amplify… save money… make more money… spend more time exercising… eat healthier… the list goes on and on. Negotiating with ourselves is a lifelong journey – it never goes away…but we can get better at it. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2019/negotiating-with-yourself/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:56:39 GMT 3205 Alan Smith Every child knows that it is the time of year when all the good and bad deeds (and thoughts) you have had get tallied up by the Big Man, as he sits in his icy splendor on the North Pole trying to figure out what you get on Christmas morning. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2018/naughty-or-nice/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:09:15 GMT 3202 Brian Buck Almost every morning I ask my girls the wrong question, “What would you like for breakfast?” I say it’s wrong, because I always get the same frustrating answer, “I don’t care.” But yet, I ask it every morning in hopes that one day I’ll be surprised by the answer. However, recently, I asked a different question, “Would you like pancakes or cereal?”. Guess what they said? https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2018/make-a-choice/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:09:16 GMT 3200 Alan Smith Despite Facebook telling me I’m a genius because I know what “fastidious” means (it also told me I’m a dead ringer for Justin Timberlake, much to my kids’ amusement), I absolutely recognize my limitations. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2018/time-is-on-your-side-or-is-it/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:09:16 GMT 3198 Brian Buck There it is. You can’t ignore it. But you do. No one says anything. We pretend it’s not there. But we’re all waiting for it to come up. We talk around it. We don’t talk about it. We’re hoping it just goes away. But it doesn’t. Then it happens. The elephant moves and now it has to be dealt with because you can’t deal with any else other than the elephant. So if we know the elephant is there, why are we not dealing with it? https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2018/elephant-in-the-room/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:09:17 GMT 3196 Alan Smith Guess what’s coming? Not difficult, really! John Lewis has released its new ad, the shops are full of tinsel and advent calendars, even Slade must be ready for their annual check for the never-grows-old “Merry Christmas Everyone”. That must be brilliant - writing a Christmas hit that is, not being an ageing Rock Star from the 70s. Although that said, the Stones look alright on it. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2018/guess-what/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:09:17 GMT 3194 Brian Buck I have 24 people coming to my house for Thanksgiving. My family, in-laws, friends, and friends of friends. Everyone is bringing something to contribute to dinner. There is one dish they will all have in common and that’s opinion. Some will have one about the food, others about politics, some about each other, but they will all bring their opinions. I won’t agree with them all but I’ll probably hear them all! Here’s how I’m planning to negotiate Thanksgiving and all those opinions. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2018/negotiating-thanksgiving/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:09:18 GMT 3192 Stephen White On August 30th, mid-evening, our home was broken into. We were away overnight. Fortunately, we had recently installed a video doorbell which alerted me about the activity via my mobile phone, and which recorded footage of the offender trying to jimmy open the front door, failing, and then disappearing around the back of the house. He climbed onto a half roof, entered the house through a bedroom window, triggered the house alarm as a result, and scarpered empty-handed. In the meantime, I had alerted the police who arrived promptly but just missed him. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2018/break-in/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:09:18 GMT 3190 Simon Letchford Ever been lied to at the negotiation table? We’ve all heard people say things that we suspect might be untrue (“We have three other viable bids”, “Your proposal is the most expensive” or that old chestnut “That’s my final offer”). It’s certainly true that some people lie in negotiations, with the goal of shifting the power balance in their favor. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2018/dont-lie-to-me/ Fri, 17 Jun 2022 10:28:13 GMT 3188 David Bannister I wonder if, like me, you have recently followed the story of a shoplifter who stole a tray of cans of beer from a supermarket. This was no ordinary shoplifter, he looked like the actor David Schwimmer and his CCTV photograph was shown widely in the media. David Schwimmer showed his sense of humor by posting his own photograph on social media showing him clutching a similar looking tray of beers and taking a furtive look at a shop camera. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2018/gaining-friendly-advantage/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:09:19 GMT 3184 Brian Buck I recently had a client seeking some advice on combating a price increase. He was dealing with a supplier who was raising his rates for their next contract. The justification was that the cost of materials as well as delivery & installation costs were increasing and therefore they had to pass the price along to him. Here’s what I advised him to do… https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2018/price-increase/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:09:21 GMT 3177 Stephen White I was intrigued by a radio interview I heard last week. The subject was the long-running battle by the Trade Unions to win gender-equal pay rights for 12,000 municipality workers such as care home, catering and school cleaning staff in Glasgow. Frustrated with Glasgow City Council’s negotiating stance the unions representing these workers had called a two-day strike. The interviewees were the senior representatives on each side. My interest was stimulated because despite the strike going ahead they spent much of the 10 minutes on-air being nice to and agreeing with each other. And with Scotwork being a Glasgow based organisation (albeit with offices in 38 other countries), here was a negotiating dispute which was close to home. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2018/close-to-home/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:09:21 GMT 3179 Simon Letchford Have you ever needed to negotiate an important deal with a much larger counterpart? This season of TV’s Survivor is called “David vs Goliath” – a battle between stronger competitors and a bunch of nerds, all fighting it out on a desert island for a million dollars in prize money. I was watching it with my daughters this week (don’t scoff, it’s a great show for scholars of negotiation, game theory AND trash TV) – and it occurred to me that too often we negotiate with a larger party without realizing that we have a slingshot right there in our hands, (or, at least, sitting quietly under the table, if only we’d take the time to look). https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2018/david-vs-goliath/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:09:22 GMT 3175 Brian Buck In less than an hour the vendor discounted their price by 20%! I wish I could tell you it’s because I’m just that good (said with lots of sarcasm) but I literally had done nothing except ask a few questions and told them, “we need to think about it”. Little did I know that was the start of the end. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2018/moving-too-fast/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:09:22 GMT 3173 Brian Buck As the Evil Queen stares at the mirror waiting for the response she so desperately wants to hear, she is greeted instead with what needed to be said, for she is not the fairest of all. By contrast, the heroine, Snow White does not see her own beauty and kindness and stays hidden in the forest for fear of the Evil Queen. I see many negotiators who behave like the Evil Queen or behave like Snow White - which are you? https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2018/mirror-mirror/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:09:23 GMT 3169 Alan Smith Fancy creating a bit more value in your business, then put it through the shredder! This weekend the iconic Bristolian artist Banksy has played what could be one of the most impudent acts in art by organizing for one of his famous works to self-destruct after being sold at auction for just over £1m (watch video here). Girl With Balloon was the final item (and one of my favorites) in a sale at Sotheby’s in London on Friday night and its auction price matched the artist’s earlier sale record of £1.04m. Just after the auctioneer’s hammer came down on the item, the canvas began to pass through a shredder installed in the frame. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2018/whats-it-worth/ Fri, 17 Jun 2022 10:28:24 GMT 3171 Brian Buck The restaurant was pristine and ready for guests but when the doors opened no one came. It sat empty. Even with the occasional culinary curious patron it was clear that there was something amiss with Chef Vincent Chirico’s latest restaurant venture, “Raw”. Within a few weeks of opening, Chef Vincent did something extremely drastic to try to save his restaurant… https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2018/words-matter/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:09:23 GMT 3167 Brian Buck In a recent TED Talk from Anil Seth describing how our brain constructs reality, he made an interesting statement, “If hallucination is a kind of uncontrolled perception, then perception right here and right now is also a kind of hallucination… In fact, we're all hallucinating all the time, including right now. It's just that when we agree about our hallucinations, we call that reality.” After I chuckled at my perceived hallucination called reality, it reminded me of the one hallucination that every negotiator suffers from… https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2018/negotiation-hallucinations/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:09:24 GMT 3165 Alan Smith If I asked you how do you think the World is going on a report card. Most of you would do a lot worse than a chimp. At least that’s the evidence presented by Factfullness a book published by Hans Rosling a Swedish physician this year. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2018/chimps-are-a-lot-cleverer-than-most-of-us/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:09:19 GMT 3186 Ben Byth We are always thrilled to hear when clients tell us about how they have used specific things they learned from us. One of my clients called last week to say she was getting some success around raising prices. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2018/either-or-proposals-to-increase-pricing/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:09:20 GMT 3182 Brian Buck They say good fences makes good neighbors. It should also say, “be kind to your neighbor or karma will thump you!” I’m watching karma in action as the battle with my neighbors continues over the height of my hedges. It’s a competitive negotiation that should have saw coming… https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2018/karma-wins/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:09:24 GMT 3163 Stephen White People are fascinated by Pound Shops. They’ve been around the High Street for over 20 years. Stores like Poundland, Poundstretcher, Poundworld, and others grew their estate and their customer numbers rapidly when Woolworths failed and austerity kicked in at the beginning of 2009. Not all have succeeded. 99p Stores were absorbed into Poundland, and recently Poundworld went into administration. For most, the original premise – that everything in the store is £1 – has had to go as inflation limits the stock range that can be sold profitably at that price point. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2018/open-buying/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:09:25 GMT 3161 Brian Buck Are you ready for a powerhouse negotiation? We’re about to see one play out between Nike, the NFL, and Colin Kaepernick. The NFL is currently arbitrating a collusion grievance from Colin Kaepernick in which he claims NFL owners have colluded not to hire him. Nike just made Kaepernick the centerpiece of their 30-anniversary ad campaign, “Just Do It” celebrating his social activism and its Kaepernick’s social activism that has contributed to a PR nightmare for the NFL. All on the heels of the NFL and Nike signing an 8-year sponsorship extension through 2028. Did Nike, “Just do it”? What do you do if your partner becomes your antagonist? https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2018/nike-vs-nfl-vs-kaepernick/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:10:02 GMT 3151 Brian Buck It never fails… I see smart, intelligent negotiators who have devoted lots of effort to prepare for their negotiation. They know their positions and limits. They’ve crafted a clever strategy. They have contingency plans. They’ve prepared their teams to work together. They know what they can concede and under what conditions they will concede them. But yet they fail to prepare for that one thing that derails all of their preparation… https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2018/why-did-you-ask-me-that/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:10:02 GMT 3149 Brian Buck If the fact wasn’t that Robert Louis Stevenson wrote his novella in 1886, I would swear Jekyll and Hyde was based on one of my most infuriating AND beloved clients. In private, my client was a sweetheart of a guy. Easy going, funny, and compassionate. The kind of client everybody wished they had. But whenever his boss, or peers, or subordinates were present he became a nightmare client. He was a hardass, no sense of humor, and unforgiving. Surviving him wasn’t going to be easy and leaving him was not an option. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2018/the-strange-negotiation-with-dr-jekyll-and-mr-hyde/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:10:03 GMT 3147 Alan Smith My 22-year-old daughter is currently 4 years into a 5-year course at Bristol University, training to be a Vet. Difficult profession. Lots of different types of sick animals who can’t tell you what is wrong. Nightmare really. Although she tells me at least the patients don’t come into surgery with a whole self-diagnosis thanks to Doctor Google. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2018/whats-for-dinner/ Fri, 17 Jun 2022 10:28:34 GMT 3153 Brian Buck Apple pie, grandma, baseball, and Harley-Davidson - it doesn’t get more Americana than that. Can you imagine Harley-Davidson folding up shop and leaving Milwaukee, Wisconsin? If you’re following the war of words over tariffs between President Trump and Harley-Davidson, that’s an absolute possibility. How can Harley-Davidson stay an American company and President Trump get his tariffs? https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2018/president-trump-vs-harley-davidson/ Thu, 08 May 2025 21:38:16 GMT 3145 Brian Buck It’s 3AM and you’re lying awake in anticipation that today might be the day that your deal will close. The only problem is you’ve had this sleepless night before. This deal was suppose to close on numerous occasions but it seems to keep dragging on or getting postponed. The other party is either busy, or new priorities pop up, or they’re out of the office or something. So what do you do when it seems like your negotiation is dragging on and other party is dragging their feet? https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2018/are-we-there-yet/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:10:04 GMT 3143 Robin Copland Negotiators don’t necessarily derive their power from the relative size of their organisations. In fact, many negotiators fall into the trap of being scared by a seemingly “bigger” opponent on the other side and end up striking deals that belie their significance to the other side. As I have written before, these deals can be commercially ruinous. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2018/alternatives/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:10:01 GMT 3155 Brian Buck The most common objection I’ve heard from customers throughout the years is, “You are the most expensive.” I must be the luckiest the guy on the face of the earth to have only represented the most expensive brands and products in the marketplace! Who knew? Sarcasm aside, that’s obviously not the case. So why was I always hearing that I was the most expensive? More importantly, what did I do about it? https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2018/youre-too-expensive/ Fri, 17 Jun 2022 10:28:44 GMT 3141 Alan Smith Just back from a two-week holiday in Sicily. Beautiful country, never been before, recommend it. Although not in July. 34 degrees every day (bit like London!!) and an absurd 40 degrees if you go inland sightseeing. You literally can’t do anything during the main part of the day, except sit in the pool with a beer (or another suitable beverage). The locals of course have figured this out (mad dogs and Englishmen!) and time their days appropriately. Siesta, what a fantastic invention! https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2018/timing-is/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:10:01 GMT 3157 Brian Buck Often times we are asked, “what does the future of negotiation look like?” Some suggest that artificial intelligence (AI) will soon replace the need for people to negotiate. A recent research paper laid out an interesting roadmap to that reality. But the real question becomes, “would you trust a robot to negotiate on your behalf?” https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2018/would-you-trust-a-robot-to-negotiate-for-you/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:10:04 GMT 3139 Stephen White Years ago I was asked to evaluate a sales-training ‘game’. The player sat in front of a screencast as a salesperson tasked with winning an order from a big corporate prospect. As the story unfolded the player was asked to make decisions from a multichoice selection and then given feedback. My evaluation was based on me being that player/salesperson. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2018/nowhere-left-to-go/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:09:26 GMT 3159 Brian Buck “ARE YOU KIDDING ME??” I was so mad. This was the third agreement I had come to with this potential business partner in the last six months. Just when I thought we had an agreement, they would come back and change the terms. It was infuriating. At this point I really wanted to walk away but I couldn’t because this joint venture was strategically important for both organizations and the cost were far too high to walk away. However, I felt like they were exploiting that fact and I was becoming more and more emotional. The more emotional I got, the more irrational I became. I had to detach emotionally and find a way around or this deal was going to hell in a hand basket. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2018/emotional-negotiator/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:10:05 GMT 3137 Brian Buck Strength in numbers… Teamwork makes the dream work... We are better together… We’ve all heard these sayings about the virtues of working together. So much so, it’s often frowned upon when we work in our “silos”. But let’s face it, sometimes we can’t always work in teams to get a job done. At Scotwork we embrace and advocate a team approach to negotiations, but what do you do when you are all by yourself at the negotiation table? https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2018/all-alone/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:10:07 GMT 3129 Brian Buck After being sequestered for five days in a hotel meeting room, three days in sales meetings and two days in negotiation training, the people we were training wanted out. It’s no wonder that when the hotel walked in that late afternoon with the dinner menu the team erupted, “Not again! We need to cancel dinner and go off site!” The team’s admin told them it wasn’t possible because they had a contract to do dinner and it was too late to change. After listening to the bickering and the admin’s insistence that nothing could be done something came over me and I said, “Well, maybe there’s something we can do…” The admin looked at me angrily, the participants looked at me with hope, and my two colleagues looked at me in fear. That’s when I realized I put my foot in my mouth. The class pinned their hope on me, the negotiation instructor, to get them out of this contract. Thus the fear my collegeuges had because they knew if I wasn’t successful all of our credibility would be lost. How was I going to extract my foot from my mouth? https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2018/foot-in-mouth-disease/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:10:07 GMT 3127 Stephen White The British are world champions at Understatement. From Captain Oates’ immortal ‘I am just going outside and may be some time’ to the pilot of the British Airways plane hobbled by volcanic ash ‘Ladies and Gentlemen this is your captain speaking. We have a small problem. All four engines have stopped’ we are classically modest in our language when things are going wrong. My personal favorite; the epitaph on Spike Milligan’s tombstone ‘I told you I was ill’ https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2018/understanding-the-obvious/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:10:05 GMT 3135 Simon Letchford If you’re anything like me, you like to combine good results, with the least amount of work. I was fascinated to hear President Trump claim last week that he “didn’t think he needed to prepare very much” going into his summit with Kim Jong-Un to discuss denuclearizing the Korean peninsula. While we’ll all have to wait a few months to seriously measure the success or otherwise of that initial Singapore meeting, (and - like everything else in this deeply divided nation right now - opinions tends to be heavily influenced by which political party you happen to support), it got me thinking about the minimum amount of preparation necessary to go into a serious negotiation. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2018/the-lazy-negotiator/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:10:08 GMT 3125 Richard Waldrop “What do you mean I can’t negotiate it for you?” My wife decided she wanted a new Jeep Grand Cherokee. She had picked out a specific make and model with “all the options”. As a negotiation professional, I was eager to help negotiate the deal but she told me to stay out of the process. Apparently my reputation preceded me! So I watched and waited to see how this unfolded. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2018/art-of-transparency/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:10:08 GMT 3123 Stephen White Some years ago, I inherited from an elderly uncle a scruffy handwritten family tree of my father’s forebears. Intrigued and interested I did some research and expanded it, including my mother’s family, and then my wife’s family. When the technology became available I used a web-based program to put it online and make it accessible to others. As a result, distant relatives, I didn’t know existed contacted me and the tree grew even taller and wider. Genealogy had turned into one of my hobbies. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2018/who-do-you-think-you-are/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:10:06 GMT 3133 Ananda Laberge “Mom! Why can’t I have the keys to the truck?!” My 16 year was a little exasperated with me when I told her she couldn’t drive our new truck while her car was in the shop. Instead of storming off when I said “no” or just letting me drive her, my independent teenager went into high gear and surprised me with what she did next… https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2018/fear-of-questions/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:10:09 GMT 3120 Alan Smith What a great question. And one I was asked recently by a client who was interested in figuring out a metric by which they could measure deals to figure out if they were good or not. I am sure in the past we have all sat back as the ink begins to dry on the contract, and wondered if the deal was a good one, could we have pushed a bit harder, conceded a little less, got a bit more volume or a longer deal, did we really need to piss off the other side quite so much, or could we have pissed them off a bit more without damaging the long term. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2018/how-do-you-measure-success/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:10:06 GMT 3131 Brian Buck “I’m sorry sir, I ordered the wrong thing for you.” I was expecting 50 people for a backyard BBQ, the last thing I wanted to hear from my butcher was that he ordered half the food I needed to feed our guests. Little did I know, it wasn’t my cooking skills that would get me out of this mess, it was my negotiating skills that would feed these people. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2018/free-food/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:10:09 GMT 3118 Brian Buck It had been three months since the start of our relationship with our new client. My team had bent over backwards keeping the client happy. Every day the phone rang with a new demand or a new priority. When we got those calls, my team would do their best to convince the client it wasn’t a good idea to change direction so often but eventually, they would acquiesce and do what the client asked. Everyone believed that’s what we needed to do to make them happy. ​​​​​​​ At our first quarterly review, the team was excited to hear how they were doing. The client started the conversation by saying, “We’ve never seen this before, but you have become known as the agency of No”. My team was devastated. They felt like they went the extra mile, every time but yet it seem to go completely unappreciated. Turning this around wasn’t going to be easy. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2018/the-agency-of-no/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:10:10 GMT 3116 Brian Buck “We can’t sign an annual contract”. That was the bad news from our newly acquired client. We fought hard and beat out 8 other agencies to win this business from a highly sought after top tier brand. Unfortunately, things started to go awry before we even got started because they wouldn’t agree to our standard terms. We faced the difficult choice of either walking away or do something we haven’t done. Here’s what we did, and it wasn’t easy… https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2018/runaway/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:10:10 GMT 3114 Alan Smith I’ve been on jury service this week. Fascinating. Can’t tell you anything about the deliberation, against the law. Could tell you about the verdict, but not going to, not relevant to my story (oh go on then guilty!) The thing that I really enjoyed watching was the to-and-fro between the various advocates in the court, and indeed the judge. I do not want to be flippant about this in any way, as in the end, the cases dealt with some pretty traumatic events in people’s lives, but as a keen observer of behavior and our reactions to it, what a microcosm to behold. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2018/members-of-the-jury/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:10:11 GMT 3112 Brian Buck Listening to an interview with James Dyson he shared the story of how he got his vacuum cleaners into retail. His vacuum was so revolutionary (bagless, cyclone suction, etc.) that some retailers were skeptical. Therefore, they demanded that he advertise on TV before they would take his vacuum; an expensive and risky endeavor. As an entrepreneur trying to make it, you might be surprised on James Dyson’s response and how he dealt with that negotiation... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2018/this-sucks/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:10:11 GMT 3110 Stephen White Male Alert - be prepared to read this with your legs crossed. It may have passed you by, but there has been press coverage over the last few weeks about a Bill put before the Icelandic Parliament to ban non-medical circumcision for boys. If passed... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2018/a-cut-above/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:10:12 GMT 3108 Simon Letchford I read a hilarious story recently about a guy who got into an argument with a supermarket when he tried to secure a refund on an opened tray of diced butternut squash, because when he bought it, he’d thought it was cheese. The author of the story was standing in line at the grocery store behind our brave Cheese Connoisseur, tweeting updates in real time as this guy dug himself deeper and deeper into a hole. He was determined to get a $2.97 refund on the tray, which the shop had clearly labeled “Butternut Squash”. The author noted that the obvious course of action for our protagonist would be to “stick the squash in the fridge, laugh at yourself and then go get some cheese”. But no – he argued for 15 minutes, failed, and then stormed out of the store, squash in hand - probably never to return. Apart from the sheer delightful stupidity of the argument, it reminded me how often we humans refuse to admit fault and move on, and then get deadlocked. And - for any organization that manages accounts (service teams and account management functions) - how often we find ourselves, like the unfortunate store staff, on the other side of the table from some idiot who wants you to pay for the fact that they can’t distinguish vegetables from dairy. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2018/saving-face/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:10:12 GMT 3106 Apostolos Korlos Finishing a Marathon is a life’s dream for a runner. Thousands of amateur athletes live for the moment of crossing the finishing line of one of the hundreds of marathons organized around the world. The marathon, as any other demanding competition, requires… https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2018/6-key-negotiation-insights-through-the-eyes-of-a-marathon-runner/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:10:13 GMT 3104 Brian Buck “Do it or we walk!” threatened the fist pounding buyer. As you contemplate what to do, the level-headed buyer chimes in with, “I’d hate to see us walk. I know you guys are trying hard and I really like you, so maybe there’s something else you do?” Sound familiar? It should because it’s a negotiation technique based on the same Hollywood cliche that you see in just about every cop movie out there. It’s the old good cop, bad cop routine. It’s easy to spot, so what do you do when it happens to you? https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2018/good-cop-bad-cop/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:12:20 GMT 3102 Brian Buck “Why won’t they do what I want?” My client was exasperated with her internal stakeholders. She was struggling with getting alignment from those more senior to her. No one seemed to have time for her or cared about the things she cared about. Needless to say, she was very frustrated because she felt like she couldn’t do her job and, although she didn’t say it, I could tell she was feeling marginalized. She reached out to me and ask for some advice and here’s what I told her... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2018/why-won-t-they-do-what-i-want/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:12:21 GMT 3100 Robin Copland Regular readers may recall the story I told about pitching up at a hotel with my wife and young family in tow and admitting my desperation to them; I needed a bedroom and I needed it badly. My subsequent request for a discount fell on deaf ears – the… https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2018/power-balance/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:12:21 GMT 3098 Brian Buck “Can you coach at the tournament?” My daughter’s club volleyball team was in a bind. Their head coach was out sick and all the other coaches were committed to tournaments that same weekend. Since I occasionally help out at practice, I was asked to step in. If I didn’t, the girls would have to forfeit. The problem is, volleyball is not my sport. I grew up playing all kinds of other sports - not volleyball. I did coach girl’s softball for a number of years but no real volleyball experience other than cheering for my girls while they played. I agreed to step in because, as a dad, I didn’t want to let my daughter down. However, as a coach and someone who doesn’t like to lose, I was petrified. What happened that day will stay with me and those girls forever... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2018/missing-ingredient/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:12:22 GMT 3096 Annabel Shorter In December 2015 my now-husband and I finally spotted a wedding venue that we thought was right for us. Inspections were made and options considered. By January we were in agreement that this was the place for us and that May 30th of that year was the… https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2018/something-borrowed-something-negotiated/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:12:22 GMT 3094 Brian Buck I recently met Bob Saget. I had no idea what to expect. I’ve seen Bob Saget throughout the years. Bob Saget as Danny Tanner, TV Dad from Full House and Fuller House. Bob Saget as host of America’s Funniest Videos. Bob Saget stand-up comic and if you’ve seen Bob Saget’s material, it’s definitely adult humor not for your typical Fuller House audience. As a skilled stand-up comic, Bob Saget’s opening line when he met me was the best… https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2018/did-you-hear-the-one-about/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:12:23 GMT 3090 Tom Feinson Don’t ask me how but I managed to acquire a reader subscription account to the Financial Times recently. As a result; I thought I should check it out. To be honest, most of it is above my head but I did notice an article on the two leaders of the Brexit… https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2018/loss-adjusters/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:12:23 GMT 3092 Robin Copland So, there I was in the hotel lobby telling the team behind the desk all my woes. This was about the fourth hotel I had been to; no, I didn’t have a booking but I had my wife and three children outside in the car and I was kind of desperate; no, I didn’t… https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2018/leverage/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:12:24 GMT 3088 Sandy Sbarra What are you a diehard fan of? I’m a diehard Yankee fan. Every year there’s always someone who wants to contest how well my Yankees are going to do in the upcoming season. Last spring it was my neighbor, a dyed in the wool Orioles fan. The Yankees prognostication was that they were a team rebuilding and the Orioles were expected to at least contend. My neighbor announced not only that the O’s would be division champs but they would crush the Yankees while doing so. That’s when those infamous words were used, “Wanna bet?” What happened next was memorable… https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2018/wanna-bet/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:12:24 GMT 3086 Alan Smith “Remember to look at the stars not down at your feet” I was hugely saddened by the sad demise of Stephen Hawking this week but massively uplifted by, not only his life, but his wonderful approach to it and his ability to live it to the full in what most… https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2018/creativity-it-s-the-future/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:12:25 GMT 3084 Brian Buck We won gold in curling? I mean, we won gold in curling! Admittedly, I'm a fair-weather curling fan. In fact, outside of the Olympics, I associate curling with an exercise done at the gym. But I digress... the US, in a stunning upset, beat Sweden to win Olympic gold. For the first time ever! That's quite a feat. On their way home from Korea, they decided to test their gold medal cache by asking their airline, Delta, for an upgrade to first class on the way home. What a perfect PR opportunity to celebrate US Olympic gold. Can you guess what Delta said? https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2018/just-say-yes/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:12:26 GMT 3080 Stephen White It has taken me a month to catch up with the interview of Jordan Peterson by Cathy Newman of Channel 4 News. You can see it here. If you are entertained by intellectual enthusiasm and combative journalism it will be well worth half an hour of your time. Jordan… https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2018/nice-but-not-dim/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:12:25 GMT 3082 Brian Buck Had my high school English teacher told me that a comma could cost me $5,000,000, I would have paid far more attention! I’m sure that’s what the Oakhurst Dairy company is thinking after it had to settle a dispute over the placement (or misplacement) of a comma. If that’s not outrageous enough, consider this… https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2018/the-5-000-000-comma/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:12:27 GMT 3076 Alan Smith A subject that often comes up is how to deal with situations where we have limited power or where the other side seems to have no interest in negotiating with us. Memorably, one client asked me to give them the precise words or phrases that would make… https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2018/how-low-can-humanity-go/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:12:26 GMT 3078 Simon Letchford I still recall the scene vividly. August 2007, hazy weather in Tiananmen Square Beijing. A wise-looking Chinese man selling kites, fluttering gently in the breeze above his head. And me, a professional negotiator, determined to practice my deal-making “street skills” on foreign soil. And then three minutes later, me walking away with a kite for each of my daughters, with a big grin on my face after having my ass handed to me. I was reminded of three important lessons that day… https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2018/dont-forget-the-string/ Fri, 17 Jun 2022 10:29:10 GMT 3072 Alan Smith KFC has closed 600 of its 900 UK outlets after delivery problems meant they ran out of chicken! It was only last week, that the fried chicken chain switched its delivery contract to DHL, which blamed "operational issues" for the supply disruption. It… https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2018/the-colonel-will-not-be-happy/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:12:28 GMT 3074 Brian Buck On a recent day trip to San Francisco a storm came through and delayed all flights. I knew I wasn’t getting home when I had planned. While waiting for my flight the gate agent announced, “This flight is oversold and with the delays we are looking for passengers to give up their seats for a later flight. If you can give up your seat, we’ll make it worth your while.” Three of us immediately got up to talk to her about the offer. She told the first two, “We’ll get you on the next flight that leaves in a few hours and I’ll give you $200.” I was surprised by what they said... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2018/no-means-go/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:12:28 GMT 3070 Brian Buck A few years back I wanted to send my wife flowers on Valentine’s Day. In fact, the message on the flowers would kick off a Valentine’s Day scavenger hunt which would lead my wife to me at our favorite restaurant. However, when Valentine’s Day arrived, the flowers I ordered were never delivered. Worst yet, because the flowers kicked off the scavenger hunt, my wife was left wondering where I was on Valentine’s Day! Needless to say, the evening didn’t go as planned. We eventually reconnected at the restaurant. As we had a laugh and a few drinks over the hunt that never was, I was already planning my complaint to the florist. What happened next was astonishing... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2018/cupid-can-kiss-my-ask/ Fri, 10 Feb 2023 20:26:11 GMT 3066 John McMillan A woman, let’s call her April June, knocks on a neighbor's front door; let’s call her Angel Merkin. “Yes,” says Ms Merkin, “what do you want?”... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2018/make-me-an-offer/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:12:29 GMT 3068 Simon Letchford There are two highly valuable weapons in every negotiator’s toolbox that are frequently overlooked, old, blunt, rusty and unused. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2018/the-most-valuable-weapons-for-a-negotiator/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:12:30 GMT 3064 Robin Copland Most negotiations are more complex than they appear. Even although, on the face of it, party A, the seller (as an example) is meeting party B (the buyer) in a simple transactional negotiation in which, hopefully, differences can be ironed out and traded… https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2018/same-page-negotiations/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:12:30 GMT 3062 Brian Buck After last week’s government shutdown, one of my daughters asked me, “why are politicians not willing to talk to each other?” Her observation based on her review of how some of the largest legislation of recent history, no matter which political party was in control, was passed in very non-bipartisan ways; literally to the point of where the other party was locked out of the entire process. When that happens, we all lose. So why does it happen? https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2018/dont-be-weak/ Fri, 17 Jun 2022 10:29:18 GMT 3058 Alan Smith You get what you pay for. Right? There is a lot of truth in the adage that you get what you pay for? The UK Government... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2018/you-get-what-you-pay-for/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:12:31 GMT 3060 Simon Letchford In all the deals I’ve ever been involved in negotiating, both for myself and on behalf of clients, there are four words that have cost the most money… https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2018/make-don-t-ask/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:12:31 GMT 3056 Brian Buck After an intense negotiation with a prospective client, we walked away from a deal because we would literally make no money. Zilch. Nada. Nothing. I delivered the unfortunate news to our CFO and was expecting a little empathy, instead he said, “Why?? We could have made that work.” https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2018/when-a-bad-deal-is-good/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:12:32 GMT 3052 Alan Smith Sunseeker? I wish. So we are at the start of the year! Spent too much over Christmas? Eaten too much?... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2018/sunseeker/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:12:32 GMT 3054 Brian Buck Congrats General! You got everything you wanted and obliterated the competition. As you celebrate your success, just know that your competition is re-grouping and waiting to pulverize you at the next battle. Cheers! https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2018/training-the-enemy/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:12:33 GMT 3050 Stephen White Knowing what you can and can’t do legally, morally, ethically and pragmatically is a vital element of preparation for a negotiation. Deals regularly collapse because the small print contravenes some statute or another, or goes beyond the authority of… https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2017/banned/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:14:08 GMT 3048 Alan Smith The maxim, “it ain’t over till it’s over” is a maxim because it's true. Fans of Queens Park Rangers were lambasted by their manager for leaving before the end,... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2017/it-ain-t-over/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:14:08 GMT 3046 John McMillan Two’s company; 27’s a crowd. It may be tricky negotiating with a single party, but when there are 27 divergent interests on the other side of the table it becomes even harder. That is just part of the challenge that the UK Government has in their Brexit… https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2017/duped/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:14:09 GMT 3044 Stephen White The announcement of the right royal wedding earlier this week coincides with the end of the preliminary Brexit negotiations, hopefully, which will be concluded by the start of the European Council meeting in December. I thought it might be fun for interested… https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2017/real-marriage-of-the-decade-or-will-it-be-a-divorce/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:14:09 GMT 3042 John McMillan A characteristic of business in the UK in recent years, and I suspect in other countries, is the removal of people from the interface between buyer and seller. In the place of the traditional face-to-face meeting is the RFI, the RFP and the E-auction.… https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2017/who-needs-negotiators-when-you-have-processes/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:14:09 GMT 3040 Sebastian Bacewicz This blog is a tribute to Orri Vigfússon, founder and Chairman of North Atlantic Salmon Fund (NASF), who sadly passed away in July. A champion and defender of the ‘King of Fish’, Orri was a visionary and selfless hero who dedicated his life and considerable… https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2017/fishy-business/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:14:10 GMT 3038 Sam Macbeth The climate of fear for British MP’s seemed to rise to new levels last week – with one BBC reporter stating that the emerging stories of sexual harassment would be bigger than the expenses scandal of a few years ago. Labor MP Clive Lewis is now being… https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2017/mind-your-language/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:14:10 GMT 3036 Tom Feinson Recently Uber boss Travis Kalanick took an “indefinite leave of absence”. A phrase that coexists in the big book of signals next to “spending more time with the family” and just after “you have my 100% support”. True to form he has subsequently resigned. The… https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2017/shifting-sand/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:14:11 GMT 3034 Alan Smith Since becoming a Scotwork consultant eight years ago, I have noticed a dramatic change in people’s behavior; and it’s not just happening here at home – it’s a worldwide phenomenon. My grandmother (God bless her) would have thought we had all gone mad,… https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2017/fined-for-not-being-creative-enough/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:14:12 GMT 3032 Stephen White An interesting take on ‘bridging the gap’ came to my attention this week. The story has to be told anonymously because of client confidentiality, but the essence was a dispute over the amount of a pay-out between an insurance syndicate and a business… https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2017/a-metaphor-for-the-brexit-negotiations/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:14:12 GMT 3030 Alan Smith Just how do you listen to music these days? From the metal cylinder used to create the first recorded track, through vinyl, iPods and now the on-line streaming experience, music fans now have literally millions of tracks and songs available to listen to in hundreds of different ways. I know there has been something of a revival of vinyl, my daughter asked for a turntable for her 17th birthday. I had a temporary moment of cool when I retrieved a number of albums from the loft. Dark Side of the Moon was the first album I ever bought. Sadly, David Cassidy’s How Can I be Sure was my first single. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2017/i-ve-started-so-i-ll-finish/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:14:13 GMT 3028 Alan Smith Moody? I have always been fairly skeptical of the “Happy Clappy” types who say that a positive outlook is the key to a great life. The reality is that sometimes s@#t happens and it is right to be fed up. A friend of mine... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2017/moody/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:14:13 GMT 3026 Jerry Langlois Houston Strong and rebuilding! Living through this difficult time has opened my eyes to a whole new level of humanity. Simple, basic needs became the basis of all communication and focus and nothing else mattered while all efforts turned to reaching out and rescuing those in need. It was incredible to see my kids play a large part in the process of volunteering while using mostly technology, their iPhone's and social media, to connect people who had boats to stranded home-bound families. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2017/from-the-front-lines/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:14:14 GMT 3024 Robin Copland I find this rather difficult to write, as I am a person of some size myself, but I shall press ahead anyway in the fond hope that no one is offended. Recently, on a holiday in the USA, my wife and I found ourselves on an internal flight on a budget US airline. If I share with you at the outset that this airline made Ryanair look like the Savoy hotel of the airline industry, you’ll begin to get the picture. Anyhow, I was allocated seat 4B on a plane that the check-in steward told me was completely full – a middle seat; my wife was in seat 4E – a middle seat on the other side of the aisle. I had missed the bit about pre-booking your seat for $25 a seat; how full was the flight from Phoenix-Mesa to Rapid City going to be, for heaven’s sake? It turned out to be very full. Who knew? As we were waiting to board,... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2017/squashed/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:14:14 GMT 3021 Stephen White At about the same time as this blog is being published we are hosting a webinar entitled ‘Negotiating in Uncertain Times’. If you missed it, a recording is available here. During the sign-up process we asked participants if uncertainty was affecting their business. Most of the audience didn’t comment; I suppose their interest in attending the webinar with its very transparent title was evidence enough of the problem. Those who did comment made some interesting observations. The most common sentiment was that ‘business unusual is the new normal’,... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2017/the-people-speak/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:14:15 GMT 3019 Alan Smith You may remember, or have kids that do, the magnificent game Top Trumps. It was a card game popular with kids’ in the 1970s and 1980s, especially amongst pre-teens, for whom it was a widespread playground pastime. The subjects covered included military hardware, modes of transport, racing cars and predators. The packs of cards tended to be priced so that children could collect out of their pocket money. They also played to kid’s fascination with competition. My own son was particularly fascinated with the predator cards. One memorable imagined battle was who would win in a fight between a shark and a tiger... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2017/shark-v-tiger/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:14:15 GMT 3017 Annabel Shorter Last week I watched the BBC’s 2-part documentary ‘No More Boys And Girls; Can Our Kids Go Gender Free?’ with a great deal of interest. The series is based around a classroom of seven-year old children for whom the goal is to remove or replace some of the already ingrained stereotypes, behaviors and biases and in turn create more positive outcomes for both sexes. The first part saw them survey the children to see how these differences manifest themselves already. The evidence suggests that girls are underestimating how well they will do in tests of strength while the boys are over-estimating. This, despite the fact, that there are apparently no discernible differences physiologically in the muscles of the two groups. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2017/once-i-was-seven-years-old/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:14:16 GMT 3015 Alan Smith No figures have been revealed as yet to how much Daniel Craig will get for reprising his James Bond role, which he again claims will be his last time, but I’ve got a feeling he may not need to head for the basics aisle in his local supermarket any time soon. Bond 25, which will be released in October 2019 under what I hope will be a much catchier title, is the 25th Bond (Dhooh), and Craig’s 5th. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2017/double-o-deal/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:14:17 GMT 3013 Robin Copland Something interesting happened at the Athletics World Championships last week. Well, actually and to be fair, lots of interesting things happened. Mo Farah kept up his astonishing record by winning the Gold Medal in the 10000 meters. Sadly for him, he had to make do with a Silver in the 5000 meters race. Time finally caught up with Usain Bolt as he could only manage a Bronze Medal in the 100 meters and injury in the 4 x 100 meters relay during his last race. Justin Gatlin, who has been banned not once, but twice for using performance-enhancing drugs, won the 100 meter Gold Medal. 30 athletes and support staff fell victim to a suspected outbreak of norovirus... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2017/the-strange-tale-of-the-norovirus-bug-in-london/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:14:17 GMT 3011 Robin Copland The United Kingdom’s flagship carrier has been British Airways since the merger of British European Airways (BEA) and British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) in 1974. It has had a few ups and downs. In the 70's and early 80's, its reputation was patchy but from the mid-1980's for possibly the next ten to fifteen years, the airline became a genuine contender for the accolade “Best Airline in the World”. Indeed, one of its advertising straplines from the time was the “World’s Favorite Airline”. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2017/not-the-world-s-favorite-airline/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:14:18 GMT 3009 Robin Copland It’s amazing how many people go into negotiations with no clear idea about their bottom line. “We’ll see how it goes,” seems to be the rather naive thought and of course they leave themselves open to the risk of a really poor and unprofitable deal at the end of it. It is empowering to know your bottom line, especially when you have internal agreement at senior level. Think about it: the other side are aggressively demanding that you improve your terms, but you know that what they are asking for is beyond your bottom line. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2017/who-is-going-to-pick-the-fruit/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:14:18 GMT 3007 Stephen White Theresa May’s speech on Tuesday last week urging her political enemies to ‘contribute and not just criticize was met by a barrage of exactly the criticism she was asking them to eliminate. A Labor spokesperson said that it showed that the Conservatives had completely run out of ideas and were now reduced to begging, and the Scottish Nationalists line was that if she was serious about collaboration, particularly on Brexit, then she should have offered the SNP a seat at the Brexit negotiations, as they have been demanding for the last year. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2017/collaborating-with-the-enemy/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:14:19 GMT 3005 Alan Smith For two weeks of the year I become a bit of a tennis fan. These weeks coincide with the Wimbledon fortnight, possibly one of the most eagerly awaited tennis tournaments in the world. When I was much younger it was the time of year that my friends and I rushed off to the local tennis courts, usually empty, but now with queues of similarly ignited youths fancying a knock about. I thought I was pretty good until I actually played someone who played regularly, and realized I was useless. Lacked the skills to be honest, but probably didn’t have the mind set either. McEnroe-esque in my attitude and verbiage... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2017/in-the-bubble/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:14:19 GMT 3003 Alan Smith A couple of times over the last week I have been told by prospect clients, that whilst they suspect they get involved in negotiations, they are not quite sure if they are negotiating or not. It seemed to them that all they had to do was discover the optimal position that could be agreed by all parties and that would inevitably win the day. This struck me as both being a bit idealistic and also somewhat soft. The optimal position may indeed mean that I do not meet my, or my organisations best case. Worse still who decides what the optimal position is? Me, them or some arbitrary power? https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2017/do-i-negotiate/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:14:20 GMT 3001 Sebastian Bacewicz When is a ‘generous offer’ not a generous offer? A few answers spring immediately to mind: for example, when a better offer is already on the table (yet - worryingly - completely ignored), or when the proposer feels the need to tell you that their offer is, indeed, very generous. I mean, if the offer is truly generous, why the need to tell you so? Surely, it will be clear for all to see? One may also argue that the "generous offer" is not really generous when it concerns the lives of a few million people and falls significantly short of what is expected both by the other side and the people in question. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2017/generous-offer/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:14:52 GMT 2999 Stephen White In his excellent book Homo Deus Yuval Harari describes an experiment conducted by Daniel Kahneman, who won the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2002. A group of volunteers were asked to take part in a ‘short’ experiment - they were to place one hand into a bowl of water at an exact 14C (cold enough to be quite unpleasant) for 60 seconds. The same group were also asked to take part in a ‘long’ experiment – to place their other hand in a bowl of water at 14C for 90 seconds. However, unknown to the volunteers, a small amount of warmer water was added to this bowl in the last 30 seconds which raised the temperature to a slightly warmer 15C. Some did the ‘short’ experiment first, others did the ‘long’ experiment first... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2017/warm-water/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:14:52 GMT 2997 Alan Smith Going in to negotiate with a party way bigger and in theory more powerful than you, can be a daunting experience. But before you hop onto the back foot and cower into the meeting, have a think about resetting your internal clock by thoughtfully estimating the power that you have, the source of this power and the way you use that power in the negotiation... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2017/it-s-not-about-how-big-you-are/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:14:53 GMT 2995 Keith Stacey The dilemmas continue in Part 2: Do we make the first proposal or respond? Do we bluff or not? And how do we define a good deal? Propose or Respond This is a source of much debate among negotiators. There is a view that those who hesitate longest, win. Making the first proposal is seen as a sign of weakness. While this may be true in some isolated situations, there is a general view supported by academic research that making the first proposal provides a number of distinct advantages. Making the first proposal allows you to set the agenda for the negotiation. It also allows you to effectively anchor the negotiation at your most favored price point within the bargaining arena. So forget the image of the Mississippi riverboat gamblers waiting for the other party to break first and seize the initiative in the negotiation by making the first proposal. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2017/dilemmas-of-a-negotiator-part-2/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:14:07 GMT 2993 Alan Smith The truth is sometimes you simply can’t. The dreadful news that is filling the news this week is of the terrorist attack in Manchester in which 22 people died and as I am writing this 64 people remain in hospital injured, 20 of whom are critical. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2017/trying-to-make-sense/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:14:53 GMT 2991 Stephen White The car-crash interview of Diane Abbott on LBC Radio (if you haven’t heard it yet, listen here) was the first of many I expect we will hear during the election process. For as long as politicians are poorly briefed, manifesto promises incorrectly costed with policies not properly thought through they will struggle in the face of good interviewers whose goal is to catch them out on data issues and produce cringe-making sound bites for the entertainment of the public. Laura Kuenssberg’s seven-time question to Jeremy Corbyn about his commitment to take the UK out of the EU whatever the deal achieved at the end of the two year negotiation in her interview with him on Tuesday (the data-answer to which was a simple Yes or No) left Corbyn looking unsure of his own policy, and was the segment of the interview that led the news at the expense of focusing on Labor Party policy announcements... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2017/on-the-ropes/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:14:54 GMT 2989 Annabel Shorter Last week Theresa may declared herself that she will be ‘a bloody difficult woman’ in a warning to Jean-Claude Juncker regarding her likely stance in the upcoming Brexit negotiations. We are told that this was a criticism leveled at her by Ken Clarke some time ago. However, she said this with a degree of a pride, and I have my suspicions that she may well be right to be so. The issue of gender in negotiation is a fascinating one. Some time ago I was working with a prestigious, blue-chip organisation, training their buyers to improve their negotiating skills. They doubtless have in place all of the correct policies on diversity and social responsibility and I know that they are vehemently protective of their reputation... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2017/difficult-woman/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:14:55 GMT 2987 Alan Smith Lots of people see negotiating as a series of tricks, tactics and levers, something of a game designed to undermine confidence and wrest control. They can be creative, innovative even, and against the unskilled often effective. The problem with a tactical approach, though, is when you come up against a skilled opponent. Anybody who watched England play Italy in the recent six nations rugby championship will have seen the Italians adopt a tactical approach that Eddie Jones, the England coach suggested was not rugby, but basketball. A crazy aberration. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2017/shame-on-me/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:14:55 GMT 2985 Stephen White In her most recent movie The Last Word Shirley McLaine plays a crabby old rich-woman control freak, founder of a successful advertising agency in her early years, now contemplating her demise. She commissions her own obituary needing to know what it will look like. But she has been a crabby control freak all her life; from her ex-husband to her estranged daughter and her scarred work colleagues and ‘friends’ no-one has a good word to say about her. So with the help of the obituary writer she embarks on a project to redeem her reputation with those who dislike her so much... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2017/rehabilitation/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:14:56 GMT 2983 Alan Smith Tommy Cooper was one of the funniest comedians ever. How do I know? Well partly because he has 13 of the best jokes in the top 50 gags of all time. A personal favourite being, “heard the one about two aerials meeting on a roof, falling in love, and getting married? The ceremony was rubbish but the reception was brilliant”. Telling a good joke is not just about the content. It is also in the timing of the delivery. The same could also be said about negotiation. Picking your time to enter into a negotiation can have a significant impact on its progression and your outcome. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2017/it-s-all-in-the-timing/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:14:56 GMT 2981 Alan Smith Not anymore. We’ve all seen them. Movies when a cry goes out for a doctor on board. If you fly United and you are a doctor you should put your head down, because you may be about to be thrown off the flight. What a disaster! For everybody concerned. A doctor was violently removed from a United Airlines flight by aviation police officials at Chicago’s O’Hare international airport on Sunday, in an incident captured and shared via social media several million times on video by fellow passengers. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2017/is-there-a-doctor-on-board/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:14:57 GMT 2979 Robin Copland I suspect that the Brexit negotiations will provide a fruitful source of negotiating stories over the next two or three years (longer – much longer, if you believe some commentators), so I apologize in advance to our many overseas readers. It is instructive and, dare I say, amusing to watch people • Who really do not know what a negotiation actually is • Who have no experience of sitting in a room with a hard-nosed negotiator on the other side of the table and what it feels like make unguarded comments that sound good in a sound bite. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2017/is-no-deal-always-better-than-a-bad-deal/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:14:57 GMT 2977 Robin Copland So what exactly happened yesterday in the House of Commons during the Prime Minister’s Brexit statement to the House of Commons on 29 March? People have either congratulated Theresa May or derided her along predictable lines, but I maintain that what was actually happening was that the UK delivered its opening statement for the upcoming and tortuous two-year negotiation with the EU. Forget the 9 months leading up to this opening statement. Forget the salvoes and the posturing. Forget the talk about “hard Brexit” and partnerships and access to the open market. Forget them all. Yesterday in parliament is where the negotiation proper started. The prime minister stood at the dispatch box and laid out the UK’s position. She outlined her long-term aims for the negotiations - the targets towards which she expects her negotiating teams to aim. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2017/opening-statement/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:14:59 GMT 2970 Robin Copland Just when is a deal not a deal…? I heard this story from a friend of mine the other week; there are some lessons to be learned! So, my pal is a developer and is building some houses on what is essentially a square site. Two sides of the square can be accessed from the road in a neighboring housing estate and the other two are beside a field owned by another developer. There is a huge pile of muck to shift before the actual building project; this phase is known in the trade – and not unreasonably - as a "muck-shift"! As there will be 80 -100 lorries coming in and out each day for 6 weeks, it was considered more convenient to access the site over the field, so an approach was made to the developer to discuss the terms under which he would allow access. This is a standard arrangement and the deal typically is that the field would be returned to the owner in its original condition. Developer makes a bit of money, where otherwise he wouldn’t; homeowners in the adjoining estate are less inconvenienced; builder does not need to spend money cleaning the streets and getting them back to a usable state at the end of the project. Win-win. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2017/muck-shift/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:15:00 GMT 2968 Stephen White Dear Donald I am writing because you might have seen some scurrilous press speculation that the UK has decided to leave the European Union. FAKE NEWS!! The truth is that we have had a referendum and some subsequent discussions in Parliament which overwhelmingly demonstrated with certainty that the country is split as to whether to stay or go. 52% of the population want to leave, 48% want to stay, and 93% are undecided. Because this gives me a clear choice of mandates I am advising you that this letter is intended to trigger Article 50, which apparently enables us to leave unless we change our minds because we can’t agree a deal, or we agree a deal we don’t agree with, or because you have changed the constitution of the EU in the meantime. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2017/letters-to-the-european-union/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:14:59 GMT 2972 Stephen White In the world of internet start-ups and disruptive technology the valuations placed on popular new entrants into a market continue to be completely out of whack with their profitability, as they were in the dot.com boom and bust 20 years ago. Companies with a market valuation of $1 billion or more, known as tech unicorns, include Snap Inc. the owners of Snapchat, Airbnb, and Uber. Snapchat is currently valued at between $25-35 billion. But it has never made a profit and its net worth, assets less liabilities, is only $1.5 billion. Airbnb has a market value of around $30 billion, about $7 billion more than physical competitor Hilton, but turned in its first profit only in the second half of 2016. And Uber, currently valued at between $60 -70 billion, made a $3 billion loss last year according to Bloomberg https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2017/taxi/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:15:00 GMT 2966 Stephen White Earlier this week with friends in Venice for the end of Carnevale. Thousands of people milling around St Mark’s Square watching the processions. Hundreds of human mannequins dressed up in renaissance costumes, wearing outrageous face masks, and posing for the photographers and the tourists. The hotels and restaurants bursting, the gondoliers fully employed, even at €80 for 30 minutes. There is a real buzz in the city, and the unseasonal warm weather and blue sky was the cherry on the cake. We couldn't stop smiling. Carnevale is an experience which should be on everyone’s bucket list. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2017/m-asking-the-problem/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:15:01 GMT 2964 Keith Stacey There are a number of dilemmas we face as negotiators. In part 1, we firstly look at whether we should actually negotiate or not? Secondly, how do we negotiate in regards to the value of the relationship? To Negotiate or Not To negotiate or not is the obvious first dilemma and contrary to popular belief not everything is negotiable. Negotiating is one way of resolving conflict, but it is not the only way... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2017/dilemmas-of-a-negotiator-part-1/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:14:58 GMT 2975 Robin Copland I have been an interested (though fortunately not involved) bystander watching the protracted negotiations between Southern Rail, the train operating company (TOC) that runs the services for a large part of “commuter-land” in the south of England and the trade unions representing the train drivers and guards. This is simplistic, but if you live to the south of London and commute into the city to work, then the chances are that you use a Southern Rail train to do so. No Southern Rail trains? Chaos. Simple as that https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2017/when-is-a-deal-not-a-deal/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:15:03 GMT 2956 Alan Smith It was in 1996 that Deep Blue, an IBM chess computer first beat the best human chess player, Garry Kasparov, becoming the first computer system to defeat a reigning world champion in a match under standard chess tournament time controls. Kasparov accused IBM of cheating and demanded a rematch. IBM refused and retired Deep Blue https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2017/terminated-not-just-yet/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:15:02 GMT 2958 Alan Smith It has been an interesting few weeks for Theresa May. A bit of a Chinese curse that, to always live in interesting times. Firstly, she has had to deal with the new US president, where I find it hard to believe that Trump holds any attraction to her, no matter how opposite he is. Then there was the potential ban on Sir Mo Farah travelling to the US, averted by of all people, ex rival Boris Johnson. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2017/i-m-not-telling/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:15:01 GMT 2962 Stephen White There has been much talk over the last few weeks about what might happen if, at the end of 2 years of negotiation with the EU after Article 50 is triggered, no deal is agreed. ‘Cliff edge’ refers to this doomsday situation where the UK is out of Europe and not in anything except trouble. Hence the focus on transitional arrangements which Mrs May said she didn’t/did want within the same paragraph of her speech last week – see the previous Scotwork blog for this and other peculiarities in that speech. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2017/cliff-edge/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:15:03 GMT 2954 Stephen White "That is why I have said before — and will continue to say — that every stray word and every hyped-up media report is going to make it harder for us to get the right deal for Britain." Theresa May has long repeated the mantra that she is not going to reveal the details of Britain’s Brexit negotiating tactics, because that would be poor negotiating practice. Yet in her speech on Tuesday she did just that. Here are some verbatim extracts – what deductions could you make from the highlighted words if you were a European bureaucrat charged with analysing Britain’s negotiating position https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2017/may-s-brexit-speech-giving-the-game-away/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:15:02 GMT 2960 Alan Smith I was thinking, as one is tended to do, over the January period, of any goals I could do with having as we waltz into 2017. Eat well, exercise regularly, spend more time on my relationships are my clear life goals. Frankly ones that we all probably share. But from a negotiation perspective, which after all is what I teach and consult in for a living, what three things would help people less focused on this area than I, make a distinct and significant improvement in their negotiation outcomes https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2017/three-things-to-do-in-2017/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:15:04 GMT 2952 Stephen White Like the conference speaker who has the misfortune to be given the slot immediately after a brilliant raconteur, 2017 is unlikely to be a ‘wow’ year, following on as it does from a humdinger 2016. Unlikely, but not impossible, and it certainly got off to a great start with the unexpected resignation of the UK’s Permanent Representative to the EU Sir Ivan Rogers, an event which would probably have been called PRexit if it wasn’t so easy to mishear. Not only did he surprise everyone with his impeccable timing - the first Brexit bombshell of the year – but in his swan song note to colleagues he laid into the Government for its appalling state of Brexit preparation https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2017/sir-ivan-rogers-the-power-of-disruptive-behavior/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:15:05 GMT 2950 Alan Smith Well it’s nearly here. The time of year when even the hardest nosed of commercial creatures switch off for the season. At Scotwork we are no different. We are putting away our planning tools, our diagnostic apps, our value creation engines and negotiation logs. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2016/a-very-merry-christmas/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:27:55 GMT 2947 Robin Copland You know, it’s not all sweetness and light in Lapland. People think (and to be fair, why shouldn’t they?), that all the work takes place on 24th December. Santa gets on his sledge and travels the world distributing largesse hither and thither. No one ever asks though what happens for the rest of the year. What – do they think that this mammoth distribution happens by magic? Well, I’ll admit that there is a bit of the magical and mystical about the whole operation; the reindeer-drawn sledge, for example, is a bit of a mystery, but for the rest – well, we’re talking slickness and speed and management of change and… But I’m ahead of myself https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2016/early-christmas-message/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:27:56 GMT 2945 Robin Copland People think of negotiating as “that thing you do when you’re buying a car” (you’re probably haggling), or “that time you took a particularly sinuous series of bends at speed without driving over the cliff edge” (you were probably driving). At Scotwork, we are of the view that negotiating is that thing you do when something happens to make the status quo no longer tenable; in other words, external factors disrupt an ongoing relationship to the extent that contracts and relationships need to be re-aligned https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2016/brexit-it-s-not-all-bad-news/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:27:56 GMT 2943 Stephen White In our contemporary world of hyper-uncertainty, where we are being constantly surprised (and often upset) by unexpected outcomes, data would appear to be our friend. The more information we collect and interpret, the better we can analyze the past and the more certain we can be of the future. Data reduces uncertainty. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2016/the-fallacy-of-data/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:27:56 GMT 2941 Alan Smith Two questions: When negotiating, do you want the other side to act reasonably? And, Is it a good strategy to be reasonable when negotiating? Most people will say yes to the first question. It would be crazy not to. The second however creates a bit more of a dilemma. We are sometimes tempted to go high or low, pad and exaggerate what we really anticipate being able to achieve. Because that is what we should do right? https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2016/defining-negotiation-in-the-modern-world/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:27:57 GMT 2939 Alan Smith Two questions: When negotiating, do you want the other side to act reasonably? And, Is it a good strategy to be reasonable when negotiating? Most people will say yes to the first question. It would be crazy not to. The second however creates a bit more of a dilemma. We are sometimes tempted to go high or low, pad and exaggerate what we really anticipate being able to achieve. Because that is what we should do right?... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2016/play-nice/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:27:55 GMT 2948 Alan Smith I am a big fan of Bob Dylan. Well his music anyway. Other people, not quite so much. A member of the Swedish Academy that recently offered Mr Dylan the Noble Prize has accused Bob of being both rude and arrogant. Apparently Bob had refused to return phone calls or even acknowledge the offer and spurned the academy rather as one would spurn a rabid dog! As the Daily Mail reported, to accuse Bob Dylan of being rude is like attacking Humpty Dumpty for being an egg. He is legendary for his ambivalence to fans. He turns his back on them and grunts between songs in his live shows on stage. In person he is no better. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2016/like-no-one-is-watching/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:27:57 GMT 2938 Stephen White I predict a spike in the birth-rate at the beginning of August 2017 because thousands of people, in the US and around the world, were making babies last night. There is much anecdotal evidence that after a trauma people take solace with each other. How many couples will have gone to bed last night whispering to each other ‘WTF (Will Trump Flourish?)’ before rolling over and occupying themselves with other things? https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2016/making-babies-called-donald/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:27:58 GMT 2937 Robin Copland Complicated negotiations often involve different meetings, different personnel, different issues and, in the case of the upcoming Brexit negotiations, different countries! The key word in this kind of negotiation is alignment and that involves a number of different factors and considerations. We can learn from the insect world; think bees! Perhaps first and foremost, there needs to be a central “go-to” point where all the information and meeting notes are collated and stored. It is vital to have a central hive of information that teams preparing for a new round of negotiation can reference. The old phrase, “singing off the same hymn sheet” has a certain resonance in this regard. The workers need a point of reference. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2016/busy-as-brexiteer-bees/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:27:58 GMT 2936 Alan Smith What do Joni Mitchell and Boris Johnston have in common? Well very little I suspect, but they do both share an interesting way of looking at issues before finally making up their minds. “Both Sides Now” is one of Joni Mitchells most famous songs and appeared on her 1969 Album, Clouds. She says that she has investigated life, love and clouds from both sides, the inspiration being that she was on a transatlantic flight and looked down on the clouds rather than the more customary up. Boris Johnson was quoted in the press this weekend of having a similar way of making up his mind when considering his view of whether to support Britain’s In or Out vote over the now decided Brexit. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2016/i-look-at-brexit-from-both-sides-now/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:27:59 GMT 2935 Brian Buck Being a bourbon aficionado, my heart skipped a beat when I heard that Jim Beam workers had voted to strike. (I was a bit relieved to find out that my beloved Maker’s Mark would be unaffected!) Employees and management had been negotiating for nearly 7-months on a new contract. Two previous proposals had been turned down by the employees before they voted to strike. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2016/listen-up-ya-ll/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:27:59 GMT 2934 Robin Copland This isn’t going to be popular; to write it – even to think it - sticks in my throat as it offends against my innate sense of fair play and good will to all people, but there really are times when I want to take our elected representatives to one side and slap them about the face. They pontificate and they grandstand; they puff themselves up into rice krispies of righteous indignation; they adopt their “holier than thou” positions; they occasionally demonstrate a frightening lack of common sense and commercial nous and, at the same time, they would have us weaken our position in future negotiations. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2016/when-are-eu-citizens-bargaining-chips-when-they-are/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:28:00 GMT 2933 Robin Copland What do Ben & Jerry's ice cream, Pot Noodles, Persil, Dove soap and Marmite have in common? They are all made by Unilever. What does Unilever and Tesco have in common? Dave Lewis, Tesco’s current boss, spent most of his career at Unilever before being poached by Tesco. What does all of this have to do with negotiating? Well, having been in a stand-off that threatened to damage both parties, heads were banged together on Thursday 13 October and a deal was done. We at Scotwork have constantly maintained that external factors are the most common cause of the kinds of conflicts that need negotiated solutions and what happened between Tesco and Unilever is a classic example. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2016/stand-off-in-the-aisles/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:28:00 GMT 2932 Rafael Castellanos and Silvio Escudero A couple of weeks ago we were surprised by the results of the “referendum” in Colombia. Colombians faced this question: “Do you support the final agreement to end the conflict and build a long-lasting and stable peace?”. This question referred to the agreement reached by the Colombian Government and FARC (oldest guerrilla group in the country). It was an agreement to put an end to a 52-years conflict that brought to the country thousands of casualties and displaced people, not to mention the impact of this conflict in the social and economic development of the country for decades https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2016/colombian-peace-process-and-now-what/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:28:01 GMT 2931 Yannis Dimarakis By November 9th, we will probably know the name of the next president of the USA. As the polls are not decisive, the statistical probability of Trump winning, is a real one. The negotiating profile of incumbent American presidents is instrumental to the behavior of “the country with the greatest influence on the planet”, on a range of issues, ranging from global challenges like climate change, to regional trouble spots like Syria, North Korea etc. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2016/donald-trump-s-negotiating-profile-and-its-consequences-for-us-international-relations/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:28:01 GMT 2929 Stephen White News of Brangelina’s intention to divorce arriving on the same day as the critical acclaim given to the new Channel 4 drama National Treasure about celebrity sexual malpractice gave rise to a dinner table conversation about our capability to correctly read peoples’ underlying personality. We all recognize that in the febrile atmosphere inhabited by A, B, C, and Z listers the norms of society tend to be warped; they and we believe that they are more prone to accusations of bribery, corruption, to divorce and adultery. But in terms of the individual celebrity how good is our instinctive sniff-test. When we first hear bombshell news about a famous person is our reaction ‘Yes, not surprised, I knew that was a likely scenario’, or ‘No, I would never have thought them capable of that’. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2016/the-sniff-test/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:28:02 GMT 2927 Alan Smith Tomorrow I have an appointment at the dentist. I can state with pretty much certainty and I admit comfort, that he knows something about teeth. Partly because the last time I went to see him with a damaged filling I left with it fixed, which frankly it would be difficult for someone without any knowledge of teeth to have resolved. Unless of course he had been very lucky that day and managed to wing it. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2016/the-infinite-negotiation-monkey-cage/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:28:02 GMT 2928 Alan Smith "No" has emerged as an early contender for the least popular word in the English language, as Oxford Dictionaries ran a global search to find the least favorite English word. Starting what it hoped will be the largest global survey into people’s language gripes, the dictionary publisher was inviting English speakers all over the world to answer a range of language questions under the One Word Initiative starting with the quest to find the least popular English word. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2016/no-no-no/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:28:03 GMT 2926 Annabel Shorter The subject of the Gender Pay gap entered the news again recently following a report from the Institute for Fiscal Studies. It found that although down from previous levels of 23% and 28% in 2003 and 1993 respectively, differentials remain stubbornly large at 18% and reach a frankly absurd level of 33% 12 years after the birth of a women’s first child. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2016/the-gender-agenda-does-negotiating-play-a-part/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:28:03 GMT 2925 Stephen White August 31st: The End of the Silly Season. The UK, against all the odds, voted to leave the EU. In the USA Donald Trump survived despite chronic foot-in-mouth disease. In Rio the Russian Olympic team appeared phoenix-like to take part despite a ban as punishment for institutionalised drug taking. In France a truck became a terror weapon and modest Muslim women were hassled on beaches as a result. In Germany 28,000 workers were laid off by VW because a dispute with a Bosnian seat cover supplier escalated and the supplier stopped delivering. And celebrity magazines around the world announced that the Duchess of Cambridge is pregnant. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2016/the-end-and-the-beginning-of-the-silly-season/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:28:04 GMT 2924 Alan Smith Team GB flew in to Heathrow on Tuesday morning this week, clanking with their scores of medals, on flight number BA2016, a British Airways 747 repainted with a golden nose and renamed “victoRIOus”. The best Olympic results for these Glorious Isles in over a century. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2016/success-as-a-priority/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:28:05 GMT 2923 Sam Macbeth A recent article in The Wall Street Journal headlines "Apple’s Hard-Charging Tactics Hurt TV Expansion - In search of its new big thing, possibly TV, Apple has alienated cable providers and networks with an assertive negotiating style; ‘time is on my side’" they are saying. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2016/a-grapple-for-apple/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:28:05 GMT 2922 Alan Smith My wife is a very reasonable woman. Or so she tells me. No, she actually is. We have been married for over 30 years and she has put up with me for a start. To be honest its not just me she is reasonable with. The kids always go to her for emotional support, (me if it’s cash or a lift), I rarely, if ever, see her anything other than calm and she runs a classroom as a primary school teacher with 18 excitable 7 year olds. You have to be big on inner calm. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2016/incompatible/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:28:06 GMT 2921 Robin Copland There is a big debate going on at the moment in the UK – and especially in Scotland about the renewal of the UK’s nuclear deterrent. Perhaps some background might explain where we are as things stand right now. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2016/nuclear-deterrent-is-it-an-option/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:28:06 GMT 2920 John McMillan Over the last 40 years I have observed more than 5,000 hours of negotiation in over 30 countries and that has taught me the about the fatal errors that cause negotiations to fail. For the purpose of this blog I shall limit myself to the top five and see how many of these might be present in the UK’s attempt to extricate itself from its 43-year relationship with the European Union. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2016/5-pointers-to-a-negotiating-disaster/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:28:07 GMT 2919 Richard Savage I was rather intrigued by a restaurant in North London, which I heard about recently. Mostly because some friends of mine, who were recommending it, were particularly excited about the fact that it was ‘all you can eat’. Now I don’t know about you, but ‘all you can eat’ in my book reminds me of brightly lit windows promising more cholesterol and MSG than one thought possible or healthy. And indeed the preserve of worn out Leicester Square tourists and hungry students https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2016/sushi-mania-give-them-what-they-want-but-on-your-terms/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:31:33 GMT 2918 Robin Copland You really couldn’t make this up. Prior to the recent Brexit referendum, there was a negotiation between David Cameron, the UK prime minister and Jean-Claude Juncker, the former Luxembourg prime minister and current commissioner of the European Union. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2016/you-couldn-t-make-it-up/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:31:33 GMT 2916 Alan Smith The hunt for negotiators has begun on a Global scale. Offers of help from all over the place, New Zealand, Australia and no doubt every part of the Commonwealth and beyond to help the UK deal with the inevitable day to day transactional not to mention the framing and strategic negotiations that will result from the Brexit. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2016/made-for-sharing/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:31:34 GMT 2915 Stephen White So what are you doing about Brexit’ demanded my 90-year-old Mum. ‘Why should I be doing anything about it?’ I asked. ‘Because every other sentence on the news channels since Friday morning has contained the word Negotiation’ she said. Point taken. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2016/as-smart-as-mr-bean/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:31:34 GMT 2914 David Bannister I am writing this blog a mere two days after the UK was shocked at the news that a young female member of Parliament was murdered in a street in her constituency where she was born and brought up. Jo Cox was, everyone agrees, a principled and much loved and respected MP who represented a culturally diverse constituency where people of all religions and none are united in the grief and respect they have shown for her. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2016/disagreeing-with-grace/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:31:35 GMT 2913 Sebastian Bacewicz It’s common knowledge that being rude to people may not be the best way of achieving what you want. In fact, the effect of being rude will mostly achieve the very opposite: if you're rude to somebody, they're more than likely going to be rude right back to you, and certainly less likely to give you what you want. A resulting vicious circle of rudeness ensues, and a bad deal - or no deal at all – achieved in the end. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2016/like-a-virus/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:31:35 GMT 2912 Sam Macbeth Firstly apologies to the the 1980’s pop group Madness for the title of this blog. The Sun newspaper reported last week that “David Cameron finally manages to get a good deal – after negotiating a second-hand Nissan Micra for Samantha”. Apparently he drove this off the forecourt from the car dealer in his local constituency in Witney, Oxfordshire – very different from the public office £200K Jaguar which he rides in for work. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2016/dave-likes-driving-in-sam-s-car-it-s-not-quite-a-jag-u-ar/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:31:36 GMT 2910 Robin Copland I do not suppose that there is a perfect way of sacking someone. It is never nice and never easy – either for the manager doing the deed or indeed the victim. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2016/you-re-fired/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:31:36 GMT 2909 Alan Smith Walk out the door? Maybe not quite as easy as you may think. The challenge for anyone in a long term relationship, business or pleasure, and particularly one experiencing difficulty is: do I invest in trying to fix it or cut my losses? https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2016/go-on-now-go/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:31:37 GMT 2908 Robin Copland The fathers of Scottish devolution came up with a system so complicated as to confuse even the most passionate observer and student of the political scene north of the border. There were three guiding principles: https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2016/scottish-jaw-jaw/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:31:37 GMT 2907 Stephen White Just about a year ago, as voting in the UK General Election came to an end, an exit poll predicted that the Conservative Party would win a 10 seat majority. This was so out of whack with the estimates made by all the opinion poll experts that Paddy Ashdown, a well-known and well respected Liberal Democrat politician promised on TV that if the exit poll prediction was right he would literally eat his hat. The prediction turned out to be correct. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2016/predictions/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:31:38 GMT 2906 Stephen White I am sitting by the hospital bedside of an elderly relative who fell last week and broke her hip. It is Tuesday, the first day of this week’s junior doctor’s strike. The ward is functioning normally as far as I can see; there is a normal complement of doctors on duty, but unusually there are also groups of more senior consultants who appear to be hunting in packs of 3 or 4, perhaps for safety. There was no picket line when I came into the hospital and it was as difficult to find a car parking space today as it has been all week which suggests that most outpatient appointments are proceeding as usual. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2016/plain-speaking/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:31:38 GMT 2905 Alan Smith When I tell people what I do for a living, lots of people are intrigued, often they don’t really get what it is. I like to tell them that negotiation is the art of getting more of what you want, that seems to intrigue them more. Hopefully that turns into a business opportunity, tart that I am. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2016/should-i-negotiate-everything/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:31:39 GMT 2904 Stephen White Confidence is one of the important attributes of a good negotiator. Many HR recruiters believe that this is an attribute they need to look for in those who will be conducting negotiations for the organisation (sales, marketing, procurement, Board level), so that testing for confidence as a personality trait is therefore very important https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2016/tell-me-a-story/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:31:39 GMT 2903 Robin Copland “The great thing about negotiating is that it enables people – often from diverse backgrounds and polarised positions – to come together and strike deals to the long-term benefit of both parties. You do not have to agree to do business or sign treaties. The whole process of trading enables participants to park their differences for the greater good.” https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2016/negotiating-differences-2/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:31:40 GMT 2902 Robin Copland The great thing about negotiating is that it enables people – often from diverse backgrounds and polarised positions – to come together and strike deals to the long-term benefit of both parties. You do not have to agree to do business or sign treaties. The whole process of trading enables participants to park their differences for the greater good. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2016/negotiating-differences/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:31:40 GMT 2901 Stephen White Why did President Putin suddenly and unexpectedly announce last week that Russia was pulling its armed forces out of Syria? It was an announcement that took every political commentator by surprise, and subsequently there were as many theories to explain the situation as there were commentators. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2016/the-strategy-of-crazy/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:31:41 GMT 2900 Alan Smith Well there are actually! Negotiation involves cold logic, cutting through all the verbiage, careful and clear analysis of the volatile and unpredictable environment before coolly selecting the correct option. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2016/no-hard-feelings/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:31:41 GMT 2899 Alan Smith When are you at your most creative? It is a question I often ask in the classroom when I am running negotiation skills development classes. Two retorts I often hear are: “Why?” (people are reluctant to answer unless they know why I want to know, cynical bunch) or “When I am under extreme pressure.” https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2016/the-creative-negotiator-a-scotwork-perspective/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:31:42 GMT 2898 Stephen White We have a problem with my mother. She is a gregarious 90 year old, has successfully lived on her own since my Dad died 10 years ago, she is full of life and bright as a button, lots of friends, goes out to play cards five times a week. Until three weeks ago. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2016/my-mother-and-the-eu/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:31:42 GMT 2897 Robin Copland It’s not that David Cameron does not have his troubles to seek as he shuttles around Europe trying to secure support for a modified agreement with the UK’s fellow European Union member states, but I bet you he wishes he had not been quite so cavalier as to promise an “in-out referendum” in the period leading up to the 2015 UK general election. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2016/no-pressure-then/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:31:43 GMT 2896 Stephen White I had a haircut today, and learnt something simple but useful. Chatting to the barber I asked if he had ever been to a particular local restaurant. Yes, he said, but it was about 5 years ago and it wasn’t very good. He had found a small piece of plastic in his mouth whilst eating his meal, and he was unimpressed with the response from the waiter. He explained. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2016/haircut-101/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:31:43 GMT 2895 David Bannister A few years ago I read an interesting article based on the work of a renowned US business school which gave the results of studies into acquisitions and mergers in international business over a period of years. The conclusion, briefly summarised, was that what these deals produced in practice was a long way short of what had been predicted for them at the outset – fewer than a third of deals met the expectations which had been heralded for them when they were being contemplated and shareholders were being convinced to endorse them. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2016/get-your-kicks-from-future-proofed-deals-it-all-a-matter-of-goals/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:31:44 GMT 2894 Alan Smith My daughter is a fairly recent and slightly nervous driver. One of the benefits of the children getting older is that sporadically Dad’s cabs get a Saturday off, and even an occasional lift home from the pub after a couple of cheeky sherbets on a Friday night. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2016/driving-with-dipped-headlights/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:31:44 GMT 2893 Alan Smith The ability to negotiate through conflict is obviously critical within any organisation, regardless of which side of the fence they happen to sit, and in reality most of us sit on both sides of the fence in the different situations we find ourselves in. Sometimes we are buying, other times we are selling. Often we are managing others and maybe we are being managed. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2016/negotiate-well-don-t-let-yourself-down/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:31:45 GMT 2892 Stephen White One of the defining qualities of a good negotiator is the ability to manufacture unusual tradeable variables apparently out of thin air. An example of this is how time is used as a variable. Most people would agree that a day comprises 24 hours. But management consultants know that a day in terms of charging fees is more likely to be 7 hours, so clients who need more than 7 hours find themselves paying for more than a day. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2016/cinq-a-sept/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:31:45 GMT 2891 Stephen White It occurred to me, that the most prominent current industrial dispute in England, between the Government and the Junior Doctors, might be an excellent vehicle to analyse how Millennials (defined typically as born after 1983) negotiate, and whether Millennial traits have impacted on the negotiations. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2016/the-traitment-of-junior-doctors/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:31:46 GMT 2890 Alan Smith Is there a difference between telling lies or just being misleading? I guess lying, rather like beauty, may be in the eye of the beholder. "I want you to listen to me. I'm going to say this again - I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky." https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2015/liar-liar-pants-on-fire/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:42:14 GMT 2889 Stephen White Recently the Sunday Times Travel section reported an unfortunate accident. A Mr Graham Davies booked a multi-flight trip from the UK to The Philippines. He used a travel agency called CheapOair; I think that was his first mistake. I mean, would you? It’s like enthusiastically calling Rubbish Plumbers Ltd to fix a leak, or Lackadaisical Accountants LLP to look after your tax affairs? https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2015/e-by-gum/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:42:15 GMT 2888 David Bannister Here in the UK in the Autumn and the first part of Winter a televisual phenomenon hits our screens on a Saturday night. It’s called ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ or just ‘Strictly’ to the real addicts. A number of so-called celebrities are partnered with professional dancers and week by week they compete against each other in a knockout competition where viewers’ votes decide which contestant will be eliminated each week. Almost ten million eager followers tune in to this programme in the months it is on our televisions. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2015/strictly-come-negotiating/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:42:15 GMT 2887 Alan Smith A short but important lesson in this week’s blog. The daughter of a friend of mine decided to buy a new fridge. One of those big fancy fridge's with an ice dispenser, flashing lights and a disco ball. I exaggerate a little (not that much to be honest), but you get the point. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2015/just-because-you-don-t-want-it/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:42:16 GMT 2886 Robin Copland and Stephen White George Santanaya’s maxim that ‘those who fail to learn from the mistakes of their predecessors are destined to repeat them’ has a corollary. We should use the successes of the past and repeat our behaviour with the problems of today. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2015/no-discussion-just-death/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:42:16 GMT 2885 David Bannister I wrote in this blog about three weeks ago about the commitment given by the UK Prime Minister, David Cameron, to write to the President of the European Council, Donald Tusk, setting out the demands which the UK would make in its negotiations with the EU prior to a referendum of the British people some time before the end of 2017 which will decide if the UK remains a member of the EU. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2015/a-signal-day-for-europe/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:42:17 GMT 2883 Alan Smith Am I reading this right? We're all getting fat because we eat too much and don't exercise enough. Right? Well, not if you look at the debate about fat versus sugar now playing out. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2015/what-now/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:42:17 GMT 2882 Stephen White It is fashionable for radicals to kick against the political establishment. The rise of Jeremy Corbyn in the UK, Nicola Sturgeon in Scotland, Marine Le Pen in France, Alexis Tsipras in Greece and Ben Carson in the US are symptomatic of a public disillusionment with the power-broking traditional ruling classes. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2015/kicking-the-sh-t-out-of-big-business/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:42:18 GMT 2881 David Bannister Daniel Hannan is a British Member of the European Parliament (MEP), an institution for which he seems to have little warmth (as do quite a number of other British MEPs). The UK has announced its intention to renegotiate the terms of its membership of the European Union (EU) and to put the issue to a referendum in the next couple of years. The tactics of all of this are of more than passing interest to a negotiator. So far, our Prime Minister, David Cameron, has made only relatively vague references to what issues will be on the agenda when he negotiates with his fellow leaders, some of whom have wasted no time to tell Cameron what they think will not be on the agenda. Those of us interested in the negotiating tactics might conclude (as I do) that not saying what you want is not a great starting point on the journey to getting what you want. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2015/what-to-do-when-you-know-it-s-important/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:42:18 GMT 2880 Tom Feinson Tesco’s travails over the last few months are many and varied. Recently they topped a grocers code adjudicator list for supplier complaints and in a recent survey only Iceland received a lower score from its suppliers, it must be cold there. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2015/it-s-about-time/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:42:19 GMT 2879 Alan Smith Saturday night was a very dark time for me and many of my English friends and colleagues. Whilst no one actually died, it feels like many of our dreams and hopes did. If you enjoy sport and even if you don’t you will be able to imagine just how devastating it is for an Englishman that the National rugby team was knocked out of its home World Cup tournament, by their old nemesis Australia. The only host nation ever to have been knocked out of their own tournament at such an early stage, the loss came fast on the heels of the defeat by Wales the previous week, a game that frankly England really should have won. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2015/a-black-day-to-be-english/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:42:20 GMT 2878 John McMillian A story in the British press reads that oilfield services provider Halliburton has made an offer to swallow rival Baker Hughes for $35 billion; Schlumberger has weighed in on equipment maker Cameron International in a $14.8 billion deal. Companies that specialize in one part of the services market, for example offshore drilling, are in a difficult situation and are finding themselves squeezed by their customers to such an extent that, in order to survive, they are having to accept takeover deals from bigger rivals or risk going out of business; takeover deals that would not have been countenanced 18 months ago are suddenly now acceptable – even welcome! https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2015/a-fine-line/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:42:20 GMT 2877 Romana Henry I go running regularly with a good friend and neighbor who happens to be a criminal defense lawyer. She is married to another lawyer who works in property and estate settlement etc. On our runs, we exchange tips and advice. She tells me how expensive it would be to divorce my husband, why I shouldn’t burn a red light and why helping my 17 year old daughter to obtain fake I.D. to get into pubs really isn’t a good idea. Why I really must make a will soon, when to put my house on the market and what home improvements not to bother with... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2015/give-to-get-when-persuasion-doesn-t-work/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:42:21 GMT 2876 Simon Letchford In 1978, US President Jimmy Carter brokered the first peace agreement between Egypt and a free Jewish nation in over 2,000 years. If email had been widely available, do you think he could have used it to save everyone 13 days at Camp David? Many clients ask me whether they should negotiate by email, expecting me to say no. My answer is always the same – “Absolutely. Sometimes.” Here are some trade-offs to consider before you press SEND. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2015/to-type-or-not-to-type-the-pitfalls-of-negotiating-by-email/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:42:21 GMT 2875 Alan Smith Habits are one of the most useful things we can slip into. If we didn’t habitually do much of our daily lives we would simply be unable to deal with the sensory overload that modern life has become. Just imagine what a drag it would be if we had to consciously think about breathing, blinking, walking, how to make a cup of tea? Nothing would get done. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2015/you-may-think-that/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:42:22 GMT 2874 Stephen White and Alan Smith Ever run out of gas? Well it seems that more and more of us have. Last year over 800,000 motorists reportedly ran dry. Research shows the number running out of gas has risen every year since 2011, when the figure was a third lower. Men made up most of the 827,000 who ignored or chanced their arm when the fuel warning light came on. Are we becoming more risk friendly, foolish or price sensitive? https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2015/is-risk-the-best-policy/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:42:22 GMT 2873 Marty Finkle In separate incidents over the last few months, two well-known airlines I frequently fly made mistakes but then came through with giving me what I wanted, on their terms... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2015/calmness-tames-airlines/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:42:23 GMT 2871 Alan Smith A few years ago I was talking to a guy at a dinner party and he, in the effort to engage in small talk, asked me what I did for a living. When I told him that I trained and consulted in the area of negotiation skills he was intrigued but also fairly dismissive. His view was that he never negotiated. He always got his own way by simply making an ultimatum. His view was that agreeing to negotiate was a sign of weakness and that when dealing with his suppliers he simply told them what they had to do and they did it, or he went elsewhere... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2015/green-lights/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:42:23 GMT 2869 Stephen White Last Wednesday evening was a bad time for two different groups of Londoners. At five o’clock the doors of several walk-in centres run by a high profile children’s charity called Kid’s Company closed for the last time, and thousands of children who depended on the charity for both physical and educational support were stranded. There had been suspicions about the financial affairs of this charity for some time – allegations that it was not well managed and that it was not in control of its finances. Central government was a major contributor and when the media picked up stories of financial irregularities they and other generous donors began to think twice about their funding. The final nail in the coffin came when allegations of sexual abuse of children on Kids Company premises were made; the privately donated money dried up completely, and because the charity had virtually no reserves it had to close. It is unlikely to re-open, at least in its present form. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2015/mind-the-doors-please/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:42:24 GMT 2868 Mike Freedman I was recently invited to teach at a company that purchases the debts of financial institutions and then pursues the people that owe the money. This company buys the debts through a tender process and they then present the debtors with the facts about the law and the unpleasant consequences of non-payment. They called Scotwork because they wanted to improve their negotiations with debtors. They said that they were talking to a number of companies who had issued quotations to them for negotiation training... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2015/don-t-confuse-negotiating-with-persuasion/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:42:25 GMT 2867 Sam Macbeth Although news of a pay differential between men and women doing the same or similar jobs is nothing new, recent studies suggest that even when women are on the employer’s side of a negotiation, men can feel more threatened by a female boss, and tend to negotiate using more extreme positions. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2015/engendering-negotiations/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:42:25 GMT 2866 David Bannister I was reading my newspaper recently and came across an article written by a woman journalist who was celebrating the demise of the, as she called it. ‘shiny suited car salesman’ whose sexist attitudes have apparently in the past been responsible for women being urged to do things like ‘discuss their purchases with the man of the house’ before making a decision. This article set out some, to me, quite eye-opening statistics for the UK market in new and ‘pre-owned’ (it’s what they call second hand here) cars. The internet has liberated people to change their purchasing habits when they buy a car. In the days before the internet dominated our buying approach, the average Briton buying a car made five visits to a dealership before making a purchase. Now, most of us do our research on line. You can choose your new car, sort out the finance for it and arrange the part exchange of your old car on line and even arrange delivery without setting eyes on a single shiny suit. Footfall in car dealerships in the UK has apparently fallen in the last few years from 30 million to an anticipated 15 million this year and a projected seven million in 2018. What a revolution! It is said that the second largest purchase we all make after a house is a car and we are moving to doing that without any human interaction – amazing! Or is it? When I bought my current car, I did what in Scotwork we teach – I enriched the deal by talking one to one with the dealer and getting a few extras to make the purchase just that bit sweeter and more personal. For Jane, my wife, the important extra was a fluffy teddy bear dressed in a T-shirt bearing the manufacturer’s logo which she introduced as ‘just one more thing’ as my pen hovered over the contract papers! https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2015/internet-shopping-not-as-much-as-you-could-wish-for/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:42:26 GMT 2865 Stephen White Two negotiated deals of historic significance. One between Greece and the EU/Eurozone, the other between Iran and the P5+1. Both are hailed as a victory for diplomacy. Both are rubbish. Both are being derided and disowned in all quarters. Both are disintegrating as the ink dries. What do we learn? https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2015/rubbish-diplomacy/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:42:26 GMT 2864 Robin Copland A mate of mine recently visited New York on business and found himself with a spare half day or so, needing to be filled. It being February, the joys of Central Park were lost on him so, after a moment’s thought, he took himself off to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, there to see their collection of JMW Turner’s paintings in gallery 808. It’s on the second floor; a bit of a hike from the front door if we are going to be honest, but there we are. He’d seen the film (Mr Turner; worth a look if you haven’t seen it) and he was determined to see three of the great man’s paintings that hitherto had escaped his first-hand study... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2015/let-me-paint-you-a-picture/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:42:27 GMT 2863 Alan Smith It used to be that people had so much time on their hands that they were forever looking for things to do to fill it. When I talk about wrestling with an octopus I am talking literally, not making an oblique negotiating reference about dealing with slippery salesmen or procurement slight of (many) hands... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2015/wrestling-with-an-octopus/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:42:27 GMT 2862 Sandy Sbarra If you’re a Major League Baseball (MLB) fan living in the U.S., you would be living under a rock if you didn’t realize how often the terms “A-Rod” (Alex Rodriguez) and “controversy” have been strung together. This year has been no different, despite his surprisingly low profile. When they last negotiated a contract with A-Rod in 2007, the New York Yankees figured that when he passed all-time leaders in home runs, they would reap great marketing value from higher attendance, advertising, merchandising, well….you get the picture. So both sides agreed that A-Rod would receive $6 million for passing each home run milestone, starting with Willie Mays at 660... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2015/yankees-vs-a-rod-diffuse-controversy-with-private-negotiation/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:43:01 GMT 2861 Stephen White How many deadlines have been and gone in the continuing saga of the economic chaos in Greece? I would suggest there have been so many that we no longer believe that any of them really mattered – or ever will matter in the future. The crescendo of press speculation in recent days indicates yet again that the media believes we might be getting close to a crisis point. That is because Greece has a large repayment of debt – a tidy €1.6 billion - to make to the International Monetary Fund by June 30th, and there isn’t that much in the Greek coffers, so there is a real possibility that Greece will default that day, triggering the much publicized exit of Greece from the Eurozone, commonly known as the Grexit. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2015/it-s-always-my-fault/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:43:01 GMT 2860 Stephen White A woman tries to board an overcrowded bus at the bus depot. The passengers bar her way. She protests. ‘I must be allowed to get on this bus’ she says. ‘Why’, the other passengers reply. ‘What makes you so important that you should take priority over others who are already on the bus?’ ‘Because I’m the driver’ she says... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2015/why-sepp-blatter-has-my-sympathy/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:43:02 GMT 2859 Alan Smith A relatively small and parochial point this week, but it illustrates that opportunities to negotiate abound. A deal may just improve your position in any walk of life. I have been working in the US this week and flew into JFK on Monday with the intention of staying in Manhattan on Monday prior to starting work on Tuesday. I booked into a small hotel just off Broadway... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2015/there-is-never-anything-on-anyway/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:43:02 GMT 2858 Robin Copland A friend of mine is a specialist clothes manufacturer – I do not want to say more than that for fear of identifying him - who, when he opened his factory thirty years ago, was fairly desperate to get one or two big clients to underwrite his business in the first few unsteady years. Fortunately for him, he found a few, one of whom was and is a well-known high street retailer in the UK. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2015/competitive-stances-breed-competitive-stances/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:43:03 GMT 2857 Stephen White A recent article in the New York Times has some food for thought for wise negotiators. The authors pose this question – How do you motivate people to do the right thing when the ‘market’ doesn’t work? https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2015/looking-good/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:43:03 GMT 2856 Stephen White The recent Argentinian film ‘Wild Tales’ is a compilation of six unrelated fictions about people in desperate situations. I would recommend it to anyone who likes entertaining storytelling, but one of the segments has particular interest for negotiators. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2015/the-power-of-no/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:43:04 GMT 2855 Stephen White On the day this blog is published the population of the UK vote in elections for their next government. Opinion polls put the two main parties neck and neck, with neither commanding a strong enough following to win an outright majority. So the result is likely to be a minority government which will have to form a coalition or make deals with the handful of minor parties in order to be able to govern. Even if there is an outright majority for one party the margin will be so small that alliances will need to be forged for effective government to survive... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2015/negotiating-advice-for-politicians/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:43:04 GMT 2854 Alan Smith There appears to be a new technique being banded about by politicians in the UK, no doubt encouraged by their spin doctors in the long run up to this May’s General Election. This technique or tactic is called throwing a dead cat on the table. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2015/the-politician-and-the-dead-cat/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:43:05 GMT 2853 Alan Smith We are in political season, so I make no apology for another observation on the political landscape, from which the negotiator can learn so much. All three stories involve the SNP. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2015/three-stories-in-one/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:43:05 GMT 2852 Alan Smith Questions, questions everywhere, and not an answer in sight. Asking good questions is productive, positive, creative, and can help get us what we want. Most people believe this to be true and yet often people do not ask enough questions. Perhaps one of the reasons for this is that effective questioning requires to be combined with effective listening. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2015/questions/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:43:06 GMT 2851 Stephen White Somewhat quietly last Thursday, several days after the expiry of an arbitrary deadline which had been set for the finalization of an agreement on the future of Iran’s nuclear capability, a deal was announced. There was rejoicing on the streets of Teheran, ominous rumblings of discontent in Jerusalem and Riyadh, a touch of triumphalism in Washington, and near silence in London, Paris and Berlin. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2015/the-deal-that-is-no-deal/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:43:06 GMT 2850 Alan Smith Few weeks ago we asked readers to submit words (made up ones) and their definitions as part of a tongue in cheek exploration of a new vocabulary for the seasoned negotiator to describe behaviours, activities, tricks and techniques they have encountered whilst participating in the noble art of negotiation. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2015/the-meaning-of-liff-part-2/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:43:07 GMT 2849 Alan Smith This morning (Tuesday 24th March) the news is awash with the revelation that the British Prime Minister says that he will not serve a third term as the leader of the Conservative party, and therefore leader of the country, should they be re-elected, again and again. Now bearing in mind he has not won the next election it seems remarkably confident, or arrogant to think he could possibly win the one after. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2015/honesty-the-best-policy/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:43:08 GMT 2848 Alan Smith What price is cost control? There is a natural tendency for us all to be looking to drive down the cost of what we buy. We all do it. Even those of us who sell stuff, services or products for a living will need to buy, and the same is true for those who buy; they often have to sell, even if it is just themselves to the man. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2015/do-you-like-radish/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:43:08 GMT 2847 Stephen White Driving to a meeting recently I was brought low by a radio program about dementia. The story, told by her family and her medical team, was of the remainder of the life of a bubbly and vivacious woman who was diagnosed with dementia at the age of 80. As her condition worsened she became increasingly uncommunicative and aggressive, and finally died some 13 years later... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2015/negotiating-the-will-to-live/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:43:08 GMT 2846 Alan Smith It has been said that Inuit have more than 17 different words for snow. Why should this be? Anthropologists hold the view that the language we speak both affects and reflects our view of the world. The idea that Inuit have so many words for snow has given rise to the idea that they view snow very differently from people of other cultures. For example, when it snows, many see snow, but Inuit could see any version of their great and varied vocabulary. Using this thinking language is thought to impose a particular view of the world — not just for Inuit languages, but for all groups... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2015/the-meaning-of-liff/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:43:09 GMT 2845 Yannis Dimarakis Most of you have followed (to some extent at least) the negotiations between the recently elected Greek government and its European partners. Depending on his or her political persuasion, an observer may feel in a number of ways regarding the outcome... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2015/it-s-all-about-packaging/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:43:09 GMT 2844 Rich Waldrop Scotwork NA Vice President vs. major airline. Guess who’s the underdog? Since relocating to the eastern shores of North Carolina in July, I’ve had four of 11 flights out of the nearby regional airport canceled or significantly delayed. I don’t know about you, but a 64% success rate doesn’t cut it for me... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2015/power-to-the-underdog/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:43:10 GMT 2843 Yannis Dimarakis As these lines are written, the negotiations between the Greek government and its Eurogroup partners are still under way. As the end result is not yet known (and probably will not be for some days) some mistakes of the Greek handling of the situation are already discernible. Here are three obvious mistakes I have selected to discuss in this article... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2015/key-errors-in-the-greek-negotiating-strategy/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:43:10 GMT 2842 Stephen White A recent TV documentary (The Secret Life of 4 Year Olds) gave a fascinating insight into the way grown-ups work. The film makers fitted out a kindergarten classroom with hidden cameras, and then put a group of 4 year olds into the classroom to interact with each other, under the supervision of two expert teachers, and secretly watched by a group of child psychologists... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2015/learning-from-4-year-olds/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:43:11 GMT 2841 Alan Smith Get mad back? Not so sure. Couple of things have passed my desk this week that have prompted this blog. The first is something that happened to me on one of our Advancing Negotiation Skills courses. One of the participants was asking about how to deal with difficult people. I suspect we have all come across them in our lives be it work or personal. As usual to give myself time to ponder and consider a response, a kind of adjournment, I asked the rest of the group if they had any ideas. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2015/get-mad-back/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:43:12 GMT 2840 Robin Copland Well, the Greeks have finally gone and done it. At the weekend, they kicked out the conservative New Democracy party – the dominant force in the coalition led by the outgoing prime minister Antonis Samaras and instead voted in Alexis Tsipras’s radical left Syriza party. The rest of Europe has looked on askance; Greece has muscled her way onto the front pages of just about every serious newspaper in Europe; bankers and leaders Europe-wide have been keeping the Andrex puppy busy ever since the news came out. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2015/the-precedent/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:43:12 GMT 2839 Robin Copland Jim Murphy, the new leader of the Labour party in Scotland, was interviewed on the radio recently and the issue of unilateral nuclear disarmament was raised. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2015/unilateral-disarmament/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:43:13 GMT 2838 Alan Smith There is one group for whom cheaper oil is bad news — oil producers, who've been having an amazing run between a combination of higher prices and surging production. For the rest of us it may be pretty good news. For the negotiator there is certainly the potential of a discussion dependent on the relationship between the price of oil and that of your end products, and how you approach it will depend on which side of the fence you sit. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2015/pour-oil-on-it/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:43:13 GMT 2837 John Leehman One of our clients was close to an agreement with a bank to offer a few preliminary services, which could pave the way for a large-scale project and substantial revenues. As often happens when deals are close to conclusion, the bank’s representative asked for one last concession. She said, “Since the ultimate deal (still not assured to my client) will be worth a lot of money, how about if you offer these preliminary services at no cost?” https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2015/over-under-and-done/ Fri, 15 Sep 2023 23:51:29 GMT 2836 The Scotwork Team On Christmas Day 1914 the guns fell silent on no mans land. English, Irish, Welsh and Scottish Soldiers emerged from their trenches to meet the German enemy to shake hands and exchange gifts. Despite that only hours previously they had been involved in a vicious and unrelenting exchange of bullets, they engaged in an improvised and good humored football match on the battlefields, Germany V Great Britain. Germany it is rumored won 3 – 2. Did it happen? And why?... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2014/pipes-of-peace/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:44:10 GMT 2835 Alan Smith Who does the housework in your house? Seems this is a much bigger issue than you might think. Or maybe it is already a huge issue for you. I suspect it depends on who does it and whether you care. It certainly seems to cause significant conflict if the radio is to be believed... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2014/chore-wars/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:44:11 GMT 2833 Stephen White An American President(depending on your politics it could be any American President since Eisenhower) visits a class of 9 year-olds. The class is discussing the meaning of the word tragedy. The President asks ‘Can anyone give me an example of the word ‘tragedy’. Peter says ‘My friend ran into the road and was killed by a passing car – that is a tragedy’. ‘No’, says the President, ‘that is an accident’. Jane says ‘There is a chemical leak at a factory and 2500 people are killed – that is a tragedy’. ‘No’, says the President, ‘I would call that a devastating loss’... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2014/bhopal/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:44:11 GMT 2832 Alan Smith It is a very simple equation to look at how margin is impacted by the price a company charges for its products. Take a very easy example of a company whose P&L sheet looks like this; https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2014/the-sin-of-greed/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:44:12 GMT 2831 Stephen White At first glance there may not seem much in common between Formula One racing and chartered accountancy. So the news today that KPMG have teamed up with a division of the McLaren racing team is both unexpected and exciting. McLaren will give KPMG access to the methodology they use to process the amounts of ‘big-data’ such as the information they collect as the racing car speeds round the track so that it can be used to help them make predicative decisions such as when to bring a car in for a pit stop. KPMG intend to use this information in a number of ways, most commonly to help them identify (predict) future problems and issues when they are doing audit work, rather than allowing the audit simply to be a backward looking view of a corporate body. Part of the deal is that KPMG will become one of the sponsors of the McLaren team – it is good to see that both parties used their negotiating skills to make a good trade. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2014/accountants-are-all-torque/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:44:12 GMT 2830 Robin Copland There has been much weeping and gnashing of teeth lately amongst the chattering classes and politicians in the UK and, perhaps predictably as we move ever closer to what promises to be the strangest election in recent history, it concerns money and the European Union... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2014/a-winning-package/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:44:13 GMT 2829 Mike Freedman Frequently people want to talk about their negotiating strategy. My immediate (if private) reaction to this is “oh dear!!” Negotiation is a means of dealing with conflict; it can be stressful. So, in preparation we tend to surround ourselves with all sorts of tools and defenses that will make us feel more powerful or at least more comfortable. For example people like to play out their negotiation strategy before it happens. Their strategy involves a long storyboard, a sequence of exactly what they and the other side will say and do. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2014/yes-but-i-have-a-strategy/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:44:13 GMT 2828 Stephen White There is a sweet story about a car mechanic who is fixing the engine of the car belonging to an eminent heart surgeon. The surgeon arrives in the repair shop whilst the job is still not quite completed. The mechanic calls the doctor over to have a look under the hood. “You and I do the same job, Doc. I opened the engine’s heart, took the valves out, I am repairing and replacing anything damaged and then I will put everything back together and when it is finished, it will work like new. Just like you do. So how come I earn $40,000 a year and you earn $400,000 a year?” https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2014/infallibility/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:44:14 GMT 2827 Alan Smith There are three things that stick out for me from the new series of The Apprentice. The first is that at 10 years old it remains remarkably good telly. The introduction of new tweaks and twists on a familiar format makes it essential viewing if you want to have something to say at the water cooler. Not many programs still pass that test... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2014/business-survival-of-the-nastiest/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:44:14 GMT 2826 Stephen White This week the 2014 Nobel Prize for Economics was awarded to Professor Jean Tirole for his writings on the regulation of large corporations. Professor Tirole made his reputation largely on his work about Game Theory; his book (with Drew Fudenberg) called Game Theory is not an easy read. Densely packed with mathematical equations the book tries to explain the behaviour of individuals in a market who make decisions based on their expectations of how their customers, suppliers and competitors are likely to react in the future. Even the first example in the book, which describes how a pie manufacturer would use Game Theory to choose how to set his prices in the market for one single day, would make most people’s head spin... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2014/complicated-games/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:44:15 GMT 2825 Alan Smith What is the worst thing you can do when negotiating? Lots of things I guess but probably the most obvious one of all is a lack of preparation. Last year was the 30th anniversary of the bestselling book by Chris Ryan, Bravo, Two, Zero. I’ve got to be honest when it first came out I did not read it. I thought it would only be of interest to military types and frankly was a bit embarrassed to read it on the train or tube, which was my main reading time back then... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2014/the-biggest-sin-of-all/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:44:16 GMT 2824 Gaëtan Pellerin We’ve all been trained to hide our emotions in a business environment—especially during negotiation. Keep your emotions out of negotiations or the other side may crush you, right? Not exactly, because you can’t negotiate effectively as a detached robot. So how do you find the happy medium? https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2014/get-real-about-emotions/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:44:16 GMT 2823 Stephen White Imagine this scenario. You are driving through city streets as a passenger with a colleague at the wheel. He is driving faster than the speed limit, trying to get a meeting on time, and is involved in a minor accident; no one is hurt but the police are called. Passers-by who witnessed the event tell the police they think your colleague was speeding. He asks you to speak as a witness on his behalf; to testify that he wasn’t speeding. What would you do? The Universalist sees this problem in terms of the uniformity of the application of laws and regulations. The issues of loyalty and the attempt to be punctual for a meeting are irrelevant; if the law has been broken then the consequences should be suffered by all, notwithstanding special circumstances or relationships... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2014/universalists-of-the-world-beware/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:44:17 GMT 2822 Stephen White Publishing this on the day the Scottish population votes on Independence, we are no different from any of the other pundits - unable to forecast the result. But we can forecast that whatever the result the Scottish people will lose their ability to function truly as a democracy. This is because whichever side has the majority the result will be extremely close – 51/49, or 52/48 or something similar. In practical terms therefore about half of the population will getting exactly what they don’t want... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2014/why-i-like-negotiating/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:44:17 GMT 2821 Alan Smith On 18 September voters in Scotland will be asked the Yes/No question: "Should Scotland be an independent country?" The final push for votes comes as a YouGov poll run by the Sunday Times suggested that, of those who have made up their mind, 51% planned to back independence, while 49% intended to vote no... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2014/time-is-running-out/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:44:18 GMT 2820 Alan Smith I am a big fan of the Kindle. It is convenient, easy to read at night, can carry lots of product, etc., etc. But whilst I still also love books, the Kindle’s massive advantage is the price you pay and the ease by which you can get hold of pretty much any book in print at any time, provided you have internet access. Brilliant... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2014/how-do-you-read-it/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:44:18 GMT 2819 Stephen White Just as they say that everyone remembers what they were doing when they heard that JFK had been assassinated, the same applies to 9/11. In my case I was in a Dixons electrical shop; I watched the second plane fly into the building on a wall of about 50 TVs which were on display for sale, all showing the identical picture. I commented on the devastating nature of the spectacle to the sales assistant who was completing my purchase. ‘It’s just TV’ he said, not recognizing that the event was real... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2014/where-were-you/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:44:19 GMT 2818 Tom Feinson As ever it feels like little or no time has elapsed between the end of one season and the beginning of another. The World Cup serves to heighten those feelings, but here we are on the eve of new season, that blissful period where our hopes, dreams and aspirations are as yet undashed... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2014/show-me-the-money/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:44:19 GMT 2817 John McMillian On September 18th, Scotland, part of the United Kingdom for 300 years, is holding a referendum on whether to split away from the rest of the UK and become an independent country. Assuming that there is a ‘Yes’ vote, the Scottish Government has a massive negotiating challenge ahead if it is to meet its self-imposed deadline of 24thMarch 2016; barely 18 months after the votes will be counted... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2014/countdown-conundrum/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:44:20 GMT 2816 Robin Copland Recently, I found myself in Cork in Ireland. Beautiful place and well worth a visit if you have never been. Its weather (we don’t have a climate in these parts; we just have the weather. Indeed, we spend a lot of time talking about the weather and if we didn’t have it to talk about, then this would a quiet place, let me assure you!) is balmy; never too hot and never too cold. For a man from northern climes it is well-nigh perfect; this does not mean to say though that, from time to time, it does not get hot, because believe me, it does and I happened upon one of the weeks in the year when it was hot, hot, hot! https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2014/what-i-need-is-a-fan/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:44:21 GMT 2814 Stephen White As I write, in Israel and Gaza the conflict continues, and two thousand miles away the aggression between those Ukrainians who want their country to face East, and those who want it to face West also continues. The collateral damage in both cases is tragic; men, women and children who have nothing to do with any political or ideological movement are killed and injured by rockets and tank shells which are aimed indiscriminately at population centers, or which shoot a commercial plane out of the sky... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2014/the-impotence-of-negotiators/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:44:21 GMT 2813 Mark Simpson, Scotwork New Zealand The media has discovered that Council controlled Auckland Transport is using special shuttles to move staff around Auckland – apparently because it’s faster than the public transport they provide for the rest of us. When challenged Auckland Transport shot themselves in the foot and provided us with a beautiful example of argument dilution... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2014/argument-dilution-auckland-transport-way/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:44:22 GMT 2812 Alan Smith As the summer political season approaches, we can expect to be bombarded from both sides of the pond with statements, postures and photo opportunities, all designed to gain some kind of political advantage. In the US the mid-term elections are being held in November; in May next year the General Election beckons and one of the key players in the British election is looking stateside for as much help as he can get. Ed Miliband has already employed David Axelrod. Axelrod, who helped President Obama to two victories, will join Labour’s general election campaign team as a senior strategic adviser... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2014/what-s-it-worth/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:44:22 GMT 2810 Alan Smith Size matters. But so do lots of other things. It’s all in the detail, and we all know that. So, why are so many problems only discovered after the ink has long dried? The temptation as we approach the end game of a long and difficult negotiation is to heave a great sigh of relief and run to the pub to celebrate a job well done over a glass of our favorite tipple... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2014/size-matters/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:44:23 GMT 2809 Rich Waldrop My daughter’s wedding last summer was a magical day. Still, a few days later when I received the caterer’s final invoice, I noticed something funny: We didn’t get the 10% discount promised to us... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2014/wedding-bill-resolved-by-proactive-recalculation/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:44:23 GMT 2808 Robin Copland When companies get good at providing a service, it becomes convenient to put more and more business their way. They provide an efficient route to market; they give suppliers the chance to make one big delivery instead of four or five smaller ones; their marketing campaigns are slick and entice more customers through their – sometimes electronic – doors... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2014/whose-fault-is-it-anyway/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:44:55 GMT 2807 Stephen White Last week it looked like politics was overwhelming the FIFA World Cup. Accusations of financial scandal involving the selection of Qatar as the venue for the 2022 competition, and adverse comment about the potential re-election of 78 year-old Sepp Blatter as President of FIFA dwarfed the press content about the actual soccer. Until, that is, the soccer actually started, after which all the dissent and scandal seemed to fade away... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2014/sideshow/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:44:56 GMT 2806 Alan Smith Researchers into fatalities caused by storms have made an interesting and rather odd finding. For as long as people have been tracking and reporting hurricanes, also known as tropical cyclones, they’ve been struggling to find ways to identify them. Until well into the 20th century, newspapers and forecasters in the United States devised names for storms that referenced their time period, geographic location or intensity; hence, the Great Hurricane of 1722, the Galveston Storm of 1900, the Labor Day Hurricane of 1935 and the Big Blow of 1913... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2014/it-s-all-in-the-name/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:44:57 GMT 2805 Alan Smith About 6 years ago my daughter then aged 8 decided that she would like to join her older brother at Karate lessons. I was delighted. So much so that I decided to join her at the adult class. Unlike my son, both she and I have kept it up, and last Friday she took her Black Belt first Dan grade which she achieved. I was utterly thrilled and very proud of the commitment, hard work and determination that it took... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2014/the-black-belt-and-the-negotiator/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:44:57 GMT 2804 Stephen White Until yesterday I thought that the bid by US pharma giant Pfizer for UK based pharma giant AstraZeneca was a flash-in-the-pan piece of opportunism. We first heard of the plan at the beginning of May, when an offer of £50 per share was tabled. The merger would create the largest pharmaceutical company in the world. It was based on two premises, firstly that AstraZeneca were weak because their product portfolio contained a number of high-profit drugs which were coming to the end of their patent protection, and with nothing much in the R&D cupboard to replace them, and secondly because it gave Pfizer an advantage by enabling them to move their head office to the UK and save loads of tax in an avoidance wheeze... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2014/the-best-laid-plans/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:44:58 GMT 2803 Alan Smith Politicians who promise that the streets will be paved with gold and deliver nothing but cobbled cul-de-sacs, managers who claim that the future will be filled with bonuses and jam while delivering dry crust and the negotiator who offers a future filled with high volume orders and pulls them whilst pocketing the promotional bonus. Nothing offends the sensibility quite so much as the empty promise delivered with mind-boggling confidence... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2014/talent-is-overrated/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:44:58 GMT 2802 Stephen White On Wednesday Roger Boyes, the Diplomatic Editor of the London Times, wrote an op-ed piece critical of the West’s approach to the Iranian nuclear situation. You can read the full article here. In summary his view is that during the current negotiations Iranian President Rouhani may be making all the right noises about the lack of intent to build a nuclear bomb, but because he is a transient figure on the Iranian political scene, Boyes suggests that unless there is an agreement to international monitoring of the Revolutionary Guard, which is the stronger and more permanent force in Iranian politics and which controls the Iranian nuclear program, then promises made so far will be worthless. As a result Iran will achieve a nuclear bomb and the world will be powerless to do anything about it in retrospect... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2014/promises-promises/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:44:59 GMT 2801 Alan Smith In spite of its largely unknown cast, a promiscuous leading female character, a tragic death and a miniscule budget, Four Weddings and a Funeral is still one of the most successful British films ever made. It is now 20 years since it opened in Britain - making household names of its stars, and taking an estimated $250 million worldwide. Not bad for a budget of less than £3 million... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2014/it-s-your-funeral/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:44:59 GMT 2800 Stephen White During the Pistorius trial I happened to spend some time with a friend who is a judge. I asked him if over his 30 years of experience he had developed a sense of who was telling the truth, particularly important when the outcome of a court case between a plaintiff and a defendant at war depended on which version of events the judge believed because there were no witnesses. Yes, he said, you do get a feel for it; it’s not infallible but you usually know who is telling the truth. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2014/i-believed-every-word/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:45:00 GMT 2799 Rich Waldrop The contract is a written document that spells out the terms of a deal so there are no misunderstandings. If only it was that easy... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2014/don-t-be-stuck-on-being-right/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:45:00 GMT 2798 Alan Smith I want you to imagine that you have been preparing for a negotiation and you have got to the point where you have to declare your financial proposal to paper. The bit that is going to be critical, maybe even the most important (maybe), is the price... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2014/precisely/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:45:01 GMT 2796 Alan Smith Sun Tzu, the legendary Chinese Military tactician said “To know your Enemy, you must become your Enemy.” I was reminded of this famous quote when I read a review of Robert Lindsay’s new play, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, in which Lindsay talked about his political past... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2014/know-your-enemy/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:45:01 GMT 2795 Romana Henry As a French speaker, I was recently dispatched to the French island of La Reunion, located in the middle of the Indian Ocean close to Mauritius and Madagascar to run a course. What a place! A tropical paradise with wonderful people, beaches, sea, food, scenery, the list goes on and on. My colleague Julien, originally from Paris but living there for the last 10 years – life’s a bitch – told me a lovely story... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2014/a-lovely-bunch-of-coconuts/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:45:02 GMT 2794 Stephen White News pictures of distraught relatives of the passengers on flight MH370, missing now for more than 2 weeks, bring home an uncomfortable truth. Even in the light of technological detective work which broke new ground and determined beyond reasonable doubt that the plane had ditched in a remote part of the South Indian Ocean, many of the bereaved are unconvinced, and say they will remain skeptical until physical evidence of the plane in the sea is produced. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2014/skepticism/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:45:03 GMT 2792 Alan Smith Alice Walker, author of “The Colour Purple" and civil rights activist said “The most common way that people give up their power, is by thinking they don’t have any”. The reality of the power of what we think was driven home to me recently by the TED talk given by Psychologist Kelly McGonigal, who presented a kind of positive case for stress. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2014/thought-so/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:45:02 GMT 2793 David Bannister I have just returned from holiday and one of the joys of a holiday is having lots of time to read. This holiday, one of the books I read was ‘A Street Cat named Bob’. It’s an uplifting and sometimes challenging book about a recovering drug addict – James Bowen, the author, and his cat, Bob whom he finds in the lobby of his building and whom he helps to recover from neglect and befriends. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2014/lessons-in-negotiating-or-putting-a-price-on-your-cat/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:45:03 GMT 2791 Stephen White As the current situation in Ukraine is changing so swiftly that no one has any serious ability to predict the outcome, conflict-resolution pundits should be reading the unfolding events in negotiating terms in order to make sense of what is going on, for themselves and for those who follow them. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2014/ukrainian-tractors/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:45:04 GMT 2790 Stephen White Just how good are we at persuasion? How gullible are you as a negotiator? Not very, you will probably tell me. You do your prep, you check the facts, you are streetwise, and you can normally see a scam or a piece of B/S coming and react accordingly. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2014/duck-quacks-don-t-echo/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:45:05 GMT 2789 Alan Smith Valentine’s Day gone. Red Roses wilting depressingly in the vase perched on the window sill. Champagne cork stuck behind the book on the top shelf where it landed and will remain, probably till we move house. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2014/i-would-do-anything-for-love/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:45:05 GMT 2788 Alan Smith Switzerland's economy is booming at the moment, and unemployment is low, but many Swiss worry about what they see as a looming problem, namely, immigration. Last year 80,000 new immigrants arrived in Switzerland with a relatively small overall population of around 5 million, and foreigners now make up 23% of the inhabitants. It is the continent's second highest foreign population after Luxembourg, for whom 42% are immigrants. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2014/cuckoo-is-the-clock-running-out-on-switzerland/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:45:06 GMT 2787 Stephen White The Winter Olympic Games open in Sochi this Friday, but any expectation that there would by now be a rising tide of enthusiasm for the splendor of the opening ceremony or the thrill of the sports on show has been dashed. Instead we only read about the likelihood of a Chechen terrorist attack, the possible effect on athletes and spectators of recently enacted anti-gay Russian legislation and the appalling prospect that some Western journalists might find their hotel bedrooms are unfinished. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2014/freezing-the-terrorists-out/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:45:06 GMT 2786 Robin Copland For a man who trained as a physician at the University of Damascus and who spent two years in post graduate training in ophthalmology at the Western Eye Hospital, part of the St Mary’s group of teaching hospitals in London; a man, furthermore, who had few, if any, political aspirations until his brother’s death in 1994, President Bashar al-Assad of Syria is taking a pretty myopic view of retaining political power! For the past two years he and the Syrian political establishment have been engaged in a ruthless battle for power with the loosely-defined but western-supported opposition rebel forces. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2014/that-s-one-way-of-looking-at-it/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:45:07 GMT 2785 Stephen White There are interminable lists of top negotiating dos and don’ts available on the internet, in books, and on training courses. They mainly contain pieces of sensible, if obvious, advice about how negotiators should conduct themselves. You may have read some of these lists, and you may even have been moved to try some of the tips. You certainly don’t need to see another one. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2014/hollywood-has-a-real-grasp-of-reality/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:45:07 GMT 2784 Alan Smith New Year’s resolutions. We all do them. Although I have to say come March time they tend to have disappeared unlike the food belly that sadly gets a little bit bigger and more stubborn with each passing decade. So what’s the point? I guess they give us a little bit of focus for what should be important to us following a couple of weeks off from the ever spinning, ever faster treadmill that we call life. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2014/new-year-s-evolution/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:45:08 GMT 2783 Robin Copland, Partner On the BBC news website in a move eerily reminiscent of Laura Ashley and John Lewis (see 28 March blog), it has been confirmed yesterday that department store Debenhams has told suppliers of its own brand products to cut their bills by 2.5% as a "contribution" to its investment plans”. It said it would deduct this from all outstanding payments on Tuesday night and would apply another discount of 2.5% to orders open on its system. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2013/merry-bloody-christmas/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:46:19 GMT 2781 Alan Smith Today’s friend is tomorrow’s foe in this dynamic and complex world. Barely a day goes by without mergers, acquisitions, take-overs (hostile or not) or promotions, that take the guy you were managing and makes him your boss. How do we best manage our relationships to get the most out of them in this constant flux? https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2013/whose-side-are-you-on/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:46:20 GMT 2780 David Bannister “Please take your seats promptly after the coffee break” said the organizer at KPMG’s International Partners’ Conference in Cape Town in 1999. “We have a special guest”. Twenty minutes later the 150 or so of us at the conference watched Nelson Mandela, then approaching his eightieth birthday, walk slowly down the catwalk past us all and to the lectern in the center. He carefully and deliberately read a prepared speech telling us how important it was for the city to be able to welcome such a distinguished group of international business leaders. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2013/only-free-men-can-negotiate/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:46:20 GMT 2779 Sandy Sbarra People in conflict naturally fall into what Scotwork terms the Sumo methodology, an attempt to persuade, bully or haggle their way to a conclusion. It is a “blocking” mentality designed to reduce and/or eliminate what the other party is after. The preferred tactic is Judo, which is more of an enabling mentality–finding a way to give the other party exactly what it wants but on terms the first party finds more than acceptable. My trip to the shopping mall to buy my daughter a prom dress demonstrated how effective Judo can be. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2013/judo-saved-me-from-shopping-horror/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:46:21 GMT 2778 Stephen White After the failure, albeit perhaps temporarily, of the negotiations in Geneva last weekend between the Iranian Foreign Minister and representatives of the superpowers over the future of Iran’s nuclear ambitions, US Secretary of State John Kerry gave an interview to the BBC. The transcript can be found here . My interest was drawn to this extract: https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2013/bracketed-language/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:46:21 GMT 2776 Ananda Laberge Negotiating with airlines is never easy! Long gone are the days of receiving upgrades by just asking nicely. Recently, I booked an international flight on points for a companion and me. My friend paid me the additional dollars needed as I didn’t have enough points for both tickets. Then, my friend had to cancel one week out, so I called the airline. When I requested that the balance of the points be re-deposited back into my account, the agent abruptly told me that would cost me $150... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2013/extra-bookings-get-airline-to-waive-fee/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:46:22 GMT 2775 Alan Smith Remember, remember… In many aspects of life one of the most important aspects is, wait for it, timing. A good gag, the perfect time to hit a volley, the lightest of soufflés, all require a mixture of patience, confidence and skill to get the best reaction from your audience, competitor or diners... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2013/remember/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:46:22 GMT 2773 Mike Freedman Like most sales people I talk about value first and price last. This week was no exception. My prospective client was considering courses for the company’s purchasing managers. The meeting was going very well, and when the quotation was requested I announced the total price for our three-day negotiating skills course upon which my much-interested prospective client asked…"is that the cost per day?" https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2013/be-careful-how-you-ask/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:46:23 GMT 2772 John Leehman During courses, we’re often asked about using Scotwork’s negotiating skills when buying automobiles. My recent experience offers a good example. We were looking for an economical car for my son Dane, who was racking up lots of miles on his eight-hour round-trip to college in our five-year-old SUV with diminishing fuel economies. Then we found a 2001 Honda Civic that Dane fell in love with immediately. One owner, low mileage, great fuel economy, good price and a four-speed shift. A match made in heaven! https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2013/get-creative-with-wish-lists/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:46:24 GMT 2771 Stephen White The Oxford English Dictionary defines charm as ‘the power or quality of delighting, attracting, or fascinating others’. It is a word which has been much used recently about the newly elected Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, in particular in connection with the speech he made to the United Nations General Assembly on September 24th. It is difficult to know how much the world’s perception of his charm is actually a reflection on the lack of this same quality in his predecessor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. But whatever the cause, the result is that Western politicians who have for so long been skeptical about the official Iranian line that their nuclear development program is entirely peaceable, and who firmly believe that Iranian support of the Assad regime is the pivotal reason that the regime survives, now appear to be prepared to take more seriously President Rouhani’s platitudes on these issues (you can read a transcript of his speech here ). As a result, negotiations on both issues which were stalled for years have now restarted, with the Iranian influence significantly upgraded as a result of Mr Rouhani’s charm offensive https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2013/charm-offensive/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:46:24 GMT 2770 Mike Freedman Before working with a powerful FMCG company in Europe I asked of the thousands of points of sale they have how many client relationships they lose every year to competing companies. The company proudly announced that last year they lost less than 1% annually to competition. I dared to suggest that 1% is probably not enough and that they need to lose more business. This did not deter them from working with us and here’s why... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2013/are-you-losing-enough-business/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:46:25 GMT 2769 Simon Letchford This week’s government shutdown makes both sides of politics look dreadful. A poll this week had Congress less popular than head lice and root-canal surgery. But, channeling Rahm Emmanuel, (“never let a serious crisis go to waste”), here are a few negotiating lessons to take from Washington’s latest home-cooked fiasco... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2013/dumb-and-dumber-negotiating-lessons-from-the-federal-government-shutdown/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:46:25 GMT 2768 Alan Smith Gordon Brown's, (the Labour parties former leader and British Prime Minister), former spin doctor has revealed how he regularly attempted to discredit the aspiring PM’s rivals by leaking stories about them to the media. In extracts of a memoir published in the Daily Mail last week, Damian McBride claims he smeared Labour ministers including Charles Clarke and John Reid during Mr Brown's bid to succeed Tony Blair... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2013/tread-softly/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:46:26 GMT 2767 Al Green When you “must have” a particular issue, tell people—and you’ll greatly increase your chances of getting it. Be specific to ensure that they understand, and do it as early as possible (e.g., opening statement) so it’s more credible and you can structure the other side’s expectations... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2013/a-must-have-is-a-must-tell/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:46:26 GMT 2766 Marty Finkle In our effort to eat healthier, my partner and I bought a Vitamix blender online from a well-known retailer, right after seeing an impressive demonstration. After hitting checkout, we got a confirmation email, followed five seconds later with another unique confirmation email. We thought it was just a glitch until we noticed that the two confirmation numbers didn’t match... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2013/blended-proposal-settles-mix-up/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:45:44 GMT 2764 Stephen White In the week when the UK Government failed to secure the agreement of Parliament to take military action against the use of chemical weapons in Syria, I read about an interesting phenomenon which might help explain this failure, and which should worry President Obama who remarkably has gone for the same high-risk strategy, in his case asking Congress before taking military action... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2013/off-their-trolley/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:46:26 GMT 2762 Simon Letchford I’ve always found it fascinating how many people who attend our negotiating skills training talk about how the techniques that work in the workplace have worked at home as well. There are, however, a few pitfalls for those who want to hone their negotiating skills in the kitchen, so I thought that I’d share a few domestic do's and don'ts, mostly learned the hard way... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2013/negotiating-bedtime-and-taking-out-the-trash/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:46:19 GMT 2782 Mike Freedman When we ask people to define negotiation on the Scotwork pre-course paperwork, purchasing people very often refer to “finding a middle road” or “common ground”. They deal every day with variables about which they and the people across the table feel differently and what they really mean is “let’s split the difference”. Sales people however refer to “persuasion” often as their all-encompassing definition of negotiation. This persuasion they see as a unilateral process of changing the view of the other party in order to have them accept their offer or opinion. Salespeople often consider this to be an essential fundamental skill of their trade... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2013/if-you-feel-the-need-to-say-you-are-you-are-not/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:46:27 GMT 2761 John McMillan It is said that the two happiest times in a sailor's life are the day they buy a boat and the day they sell their boat. I have a third occasion which beats even these. It is also said there are two types of sailors: those who like painting and those who like sailing. I fall into the latter category; maintenance is boring; sailing is fun... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2013/all-at-sea/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:46:28 GMT 2760 Alan Smith I want you to try a little experiment. Think of a simple tune. Something like Happy Birthday to You. (The most performed song in the English language, incidentally). Now find a colleague, friend or partner and tap out the song for them without telling them the name of the song... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2013/the-curse-of-knowledge/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:46:28 GMT 2759 Robin Copland, Partner Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport has, for the past month, played host to a pawn in the international diplomacy game, one Edward Snowden. Mr Snowden is a "whistle-blower" who, depending on your point of view, has courageously defended the rights of downtrodden untermensch the world over, or on the other hand has committed a treasonous offence so heinous as to be punishable by a lengthy spell behind bars - a spell so long that all kinds of keys may just as well be thrown down various drains... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2013/whistle-for-it/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:46:29 GMT 2758 Stephen White Do the Middle East negotiators have the skills to succeed? As talks begin in Washington between Israeli and Palestinian representatives - talks which both sides have described as negotiations - it is worthwhile considering their chances of success over the next nine months which is the timeframe they have given themselves. Past experience gives us little hope. The Oslo Accords and the Camp David Summit were both trumpeted as great opportunities, and both ultimately failed. There has been little talk between the parties since, at least in public. Is this because the Middle East problem is inherently insoluble, or because the capabilities of the parties are inadequate? https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2013/tragedy/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:46:29 GMT 2757 David Bannister 'Of course!' I hear you say, 'lover of Mozart, GSOH, NS and follower of Yorkshire County cricket!' That's not what I meant, actually. I am wondering if there is a particular personality type who might make a more natural negotiator than other types do. I have to tell you that if you are compelled to read further, please do, but I am not going to give the answer to the question, because I don't know it. I intend to try to find out, though... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2013/do-negotiators-have-a-personality/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:46:30 GMT 2756 Alan Smith While I love the sight of a Chinese lantern drifting off aimlessly into a moonlit night on a lovely summers evening, I am not sure I will ever light one again. The apocalyptic blaze caused by one of these burning lanterns landing on the Jayplus recycling unit in Smethwick near Birmingham was captured live on CCTV. The resulting wall of flames could be seen from 80 miles away and the damage cost a reported £6 million. Not to mention the risk to life and limb bourn by the heroic fire service trying to manage the disaster.... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2013/careless-talk-costs-margins/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:46:30 GMT 2755 Robin Copland, Partner As early as May this year, Lord Mandelson, the former business secretary and UK cabinet minister, warned that "a cabal at the top of the Labour national executive was trying to exert influence", and that the Labour leader, Ed Miliband "was storing up danger for himself and for a future Labour government over parliamentary selections". The row had blown up because Unite, the largest trade union in the UK, and in a move reminiscent of the Militant Tendency's tactics in the 1970s and 80s, had quietly been infiltrating local labor constituency parties with their members by paying their membership fees en bloc. The union had specifically targeted seats where a selection was coming up... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2013/unite-d-we-potentially-fall/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:46:31 GMT 2754 Alan Smith George North is a big man. Currently on tour in Australia with the British and Irish Lions, North stands at 6 feet 4 inches and weighs in at 240 lbs. That is over 17 stones in old money, as my mother would say. He is also only 21 years old and a prodigious rugby talent. In the first test he scored a phenomenal individual try and in the second a thunderous tackle that sent the Wallaby Israel Folau back several meters.... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2013/north-goes-east-then-quickly-west/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:46:31 GMT 2753 Stephen White In a sign of unabated consumer demand at the luxury end of the market $29 million was paid yesterday at auction for a 1982 painting entitled 'Untitled' (that must have taken some deep thinking) by Jean-Michel Basquiat (who he?). The estimated price before the auction was $25 million. You can see the painting here . I must say that it reminded me of much of the recent oeuvre of Millie, my 3 year old granddaughter, in what the family have come to describe as her Nursery Period. I don't claim to know much about art, but I can think of better ways to spend $29m.... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2013/for-a-few-dollars-more/ Mon, 22 Jul 2024 19:35:29 GMT 2752 Robin Copland, Partner Britvic PLC is a big company. Last year, it sold 1.9 bil gallons of soft drinks and it employs approximately 3500 people. Brands include Tango, J2O, Robinsons as well as its eponymous mixer drinks. It has a Scottish-based rival called A G Barr plc, makers of the iconic Scottish drink, Irn Bru (made from girders!), as well as Tizer and other well-known brands. A G Barr is also a big player in the soft drinks market with a turnover last year of £237m.... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2013/britvic-barr-destined-to-go-flat/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:47:23 GMT 2751 Mike Freedman Taking a position in a conflict makes its resolution more difficult. And the more witnesses there are to that position-taking the less the likelihood of a negotiated settlement. In Istanbul positions have been taken in the most public sense possible in front of a global audience and I am not alone in fearing that a settlement is unlikely in the short-term... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2013/sometimes-you-can-t-park-negotiations/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:47:23 GMT 2750 Yannis Dimarakis After being the center of attention for several months late last year, Greece has been mostly out of the international news. Indeed, some commentators have suggested that the economy might be showing signs of turning the corner; not exactly light at the end of the tunnel, but at least the tunnel has now come into view... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2013/golden-nightmare/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:47:24 GMT 2749 Alan Smith I have been struck last week by the resolute nature by which an elderly lady in Wales has stood firm in the face of massive pressure from some of the UK's largest companies, and just how difficult it is to engage when the other side is simply not interested... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2013/no-means-no/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:47:25 GMT 2748 Alan Smith There is no doubt that people are strange. You and especially me! A number of studies into social psychology in the 1960's sought to look at how this strangeness affects the way we live our lives and conduct our affairs... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2013/why-can-we-be-persuaded-to-do-stupid-things/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:47:25 GMT 2747 Alan Smith Asking good questions that are tough, direct and specific is one of the key things we can do to improve the quality of our negotiation behavior and resulting outcomes. A study in the US tried to identify the best kind of questions to ask in a classic buyer seller relationship... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2013/there-is-such-a-thing-as-a-stupid-question/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:47:26 GMT 2746 Alan Smith The UK Government announced last week, a string of reforms designed to change the way that prisons operate. One of the key areas is the way that prisoners earn privileges. Justice Secretary Chris Grayling said: "In the past, we've sent the wrong message. "From November, inmates must "actively earn privileges" and are being warned a simple absence of bad behavior will "not be enough"... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2013/concessions-must-be-earned/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:47:26 GMT 2745 Stephen White As the death toll from the collapse of the Rana Plaza garment manufacturing building in Dhaka, Bangladesh approaches 400, the attention of the world's press is focusing on the Western companies who buy merchandise from the manufacturers located in this and other similar buildings. Reports over many years have highlighted issues of sweated labor, pitiful wages, and the employment of young children. These are disgraceful abuses of human rights which buyers claim they were unaware of at the time, and appropriate noises about improving conditions for workers are made, only for the same allegations to crop up again a few months later... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2013/collapsing-worlds/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:47:27 GMT 2744 Robin Copland, Partner BMW used to do it. So did Mercedes. Porsche and Ferrari still do as far as I am aware, though it's been a while since I checked. Then along came the so-called "budget" airlines and the tactic is back in vogue with a vengeance... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2013/add-on/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:47:27 GMT 2743 Claudio Cubito When the painter James McNeill Whistler was a cadet at West Point, he was assigned to draw a bridge in an engineering class. Whistler drew a spectacular bridge and included two boys fishing from it. His deliberate inclusion displeased the instructor, who ordered him to draw it again without the young fishermen on the bridge. Whistler did as he was instructed, but unwilling to completely stifle his vision; he drew the bridge again with the boys fishing from the riverbank... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2013/creativity-should-be-embraced-not-squashed/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:47:28 GMT 2742 David Bannister Many words have been written in the past few days since the death of former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, some reflect her perceived greatness and others portray her as a class enemy. I cannot hope to emulate the lyrical heights to which some have soared in the press. I can, however, look back and reflect on the way she dealt with trade unions and specifically the National Union of Mineworkers in the 1980s. During that time I was an Industrial Relations Officer in a manufacturing factory situated in the middle of the South Yorkshire coalfield. Friends and neighbors were involved both practically and emotionally in all of the events of that memorable year from March 1984 to March 1985... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2013/thatcher-power-and-the-lessons-of-confrontation/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:47:28 GMT 2740 Stephen White A recent article in the New York Times draws a comparison between the physiological aspects of hearing and listening. In brief the author, neuroscientist Professor Seth Horowitz, says that the process of hearing works from our ears to an area in the brain which is automatically able to register and then tune out background noise. Listening, he says, is different; when our attention is grabbed the electrical impulses from our ears take a pathway to a different area of the brain, associated with computation. At a basic level this allows our defense mechanisms to fire up. We describe this as being startled – and this overrides the background noise and allows us to focus on what we are hearing and process it accordingly. That’s listening... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2013/listen-up/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:47:29 GMT 2739 Scotwork Team Over the weekend there were reports in the UK media that the multinational retailer Laura Ashley had written to its suppliers requesting an immediate 10% cost price reduction on all orders already agreed and contracted. The demand was accompanied by a statement that this would save Laura Ashley the need to review its supplier base – in other words, failure to agree would prompt such a review, and some suppliers would inevitably be delisted as a result... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2013/bad-behavior/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:47:29 GMT 2738 Robin Copland, Partner The current financial crisis in one of the EU’s outposts, Cyprus, clearly exemplifies and demonstrates some undeniable negotiating truths... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2013/an-inconvenient-series-of-truths/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:47:30 GMT 2736 John Leehman I recently stayed at a national hotel chain that I use regularly. On the third night of my stay, I requested a 5:30 a.m. wake-up call from the front desk to allow time for a morning workout before checking out and teaching my final negotiating skills course. Unfortunately, the front desk never called the next morning and I awoke at 7:10 am. In the next 20 minutes, I showered, packed, checked out and rushed to my 7:30 meeting. Obviously, I was poorly prepared and not pleased... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2013/if-you-have-a-complaint-don-t-wait/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:47:30 GMT 2735 Stephen White Shortly after taking office for his second term, President Obama announced that he would visit the Middle East to kick-start a peace process. That visit is scheduled for later this month, but there was speculation last week that it might be cancelled if the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, also recently re-elected, has not been able to form a coalition government before the Obama visit... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2013/the-critical-mass/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:47:31 GMT 2733 Alan Smith When I was younger, so much younger than today - I would occasionally find myself in situations which I really struggled to handle. Let me give you an example. There was this particular chap, whom we will call Ian Sharples for the purpose of the story; he was 2 years older than me, considerably bigger, and to be honest, a bit rough-looking. Even his mother struggled to love him. He lived a couple of streets away from me on an unfashionable council estate in Rochdale. For some reason he had taken a real dislike to me. I never really got to the bottom of it, but he took great delight in being unpleasant and physically intimidating... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2013/i-ll-tell-my-brother/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:47:32 GMT 2731 Alan Smith Perhaps a better question might be, where’s the beef? The continuing furor about what actually is in our food took another turn when Findus had to withdraw all of their Frozen Beef Lasagna after it was discovered that the beef was actually horse. Neigh I hear you cry... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2013/what-s-the-beef/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:47:32 GMT 2730 Stephen White The UK press this week has been obsessed with the story of Liberal Democrat MP and ex Cabinet Minister Chris Huhne who resigned his position after pleading guilty to a charge of Perverting the Course of Justice. For our international readers (UK readers can skip to the next paragraph) Huhne was caught by a speed camera in 2003, but his wife agreed to say that she was driving the car, and the speeding penalty points were allocated to her instead of him. As a result he didn’t lose his driving licence, although ironically just a few weeks later he did after being caught driving whilst talking on his mobile phone. In 2010, after press revelations that he was having an affair, his wife left him and in a fit of pique she told the police of the events seven years earlier. He was arrested, but strenuously denied the charge and used every legal device available to get the case dropped. He failed, and when the case came to court last Monday he finally admitted his guilt. The judge has indicated that he can expect a prison sentence... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2013/it-takes-two/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:47:33 GMT 2729 Robin Copland, Partner They eat a lot of peanuts in NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory as a landing on Mars approaches. It is an old tradition that dates back to 31 July 1964 when Ranger 7, an unmanned space probe was due to approach the planet, take a few pictures on the way down, then crash onto the surface at breakneck speed. Bear in mind that only a year or two previously, President Kennedy had targeted the USA with landing men on the moon, then returning them safely to Earth by the end of that decade. You would have thought, would you not, that crashing onto Mars would have been well within the wit and capability of the good folks at NASA; sadly not. Rangers 1 through 6 had failed miserably in their various attempts to crash on the planet and Ranger 7 was their last shot at glory... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2013/they-eat-a-lot-of-peanuts-in-nasa/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:47:33 GMT 2728 Gaëtan Pellerin When facing a bully in negotiation, should you behave the same way? Each of us has encountered this type of negotiator: A customer who threatens to give your business to a competitor if you don’t give in to what he or she wants. A family member or close friend who behaves as a victim, playing the guilt card. Or an angry boss when the outcome is not what he or she expected. If we had the choice, we’d like to avoid this type of interaction. But in most cases, we don’t have that luxury... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2013/negotiating-with-bullies/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:47:33 GMT 2726 Alan Smith Practice pays off. Rory McIlroy’s ride to immortality publicly entered a new phase this week with the official announcement of his sponsorship deal with Nike, reportedly worth over £20 million per year, whose equipment and apparel he will exhibit beside Tiger Woods, Nike’s first golfing icon.... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2013/practice-makes-almost-perfect/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:47:34 GMT 2724 Stephen White The most frequent request asked of Scotwork consultants is ‘Teach me how to know I have paid the right price’. It comes from a lifetime of self-doubt; that although the negotiated deal looks like a good one, satisfies the need, resolves the conflict, addresses the issues and falls within the levels of affordability, there is a demon nagging at the back of the brain. ‘Sucker!’ says the demon, ‘you could have done much better than that’... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2013/the-right-price/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:47:35 GMT 2723 Stephen White Insensitive people have the reputation for being confrontational, in their negotiations as with everything else. They don’t come more insensitive than New York City taxi drivers. In a seasonal spirit of collaboration and goodwill, we offer this blog, which has been doing the rounds for some time now... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2013/a-guide-for-the-new-year/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:47:35 GMT 2722 Stephen White Insensitive people have the reputation for being confrontational, in their negotiations as with everything else. They don't come more insensitive than New York City taxi drivers. In a seasonal spirit of collaboration and goodwill, we offer this blog, which has been doing the rounds for some time now. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2012/a-guide-for-the-new-year/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:49:36 GMT 2697 Robin Copland When is a negotiation not a negotiation? When both parties involved admit that on the one substantive issue involved, there is no movement. Here's the story. In March this year, a ticket inspector working for ScotRail, the main provider of train services in Scotland (I suppose you might argue that the clue is in the name!) reduced a passenger to tears. This was a first on Britain's railways; normally it is late-running trains and cancellations that reduce passengers to tears, but on this occasion, sadly for Scott Lewis, the ticket inspector involved, he had got the whole thing completely wrong. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2012/rmt-scotrail-talks-derailed/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:49:36 GMT 2698 Simon Letchford I’ve always found it fascinating how many people who attend our negotiating skills training talk about how the techniques that work in the workplace have worked at home as well. There are, however, a few pitfalls for those who want to hone their negotiating skills in the kitchen, so I thought that I’d share a few domestic do's and don'ts, mostly learned the hard way... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2012/negotiating-bedtime-and-taking-out-the-trash/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:50:13 GMT 2671 Robin Copland They eat a lot of peanuts in NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory as a landing on Mars approaches. It is an old tradition that dates back to 31 July 1964 when Ranger 7, an unmanned space probe was due to approach the planet, take a few pictures on the way down, then crash onto the surface at breakneck speed. Bear in mind that only a year or two previously, President Kennedy had targeted the USA with landing men on the moon, then returning them safely to Earth by the end of that decade. You would have thought, would you not, that crashing onto Mars would have been well within the wit and capability of the good folks at NASA; sadly not. Rangers 1 through 6 had failed miserably in their various attempts to crash on the planet and Ranger 7 was their last shot at glory. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2012/they-eat-a-lot-of-peanuts-in-nasa/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:49:35 GMT 2699 Alan Smith A man on his Harley was riding along a California beach when suddenly the sky clouded above his head and, in a booming voice, God said, "Because you have tried to be faithful to me in all ways, I will grant you one wish."??The biker pulled over and said, "Build a bridge to Hawaii so I can ride over anytime I want." ??God replied, "Your request is materialistic; think of the enormous challenges for that kind of undertaking; the supports required reaching the bottom of the Pacific and the concrete and steel it would take! I can do it, but it is hard for me to justify your desire for worldly things. Take a little more time and think of something that could possibly help mankind."?... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2012/who-is-on-your-side/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:50:13 GMT 2669 Alan Smith On July 20th 1969, the late Neil Armstrong was the first man to step onto the surface of the moon. As commander of Apollo 11 his legend was secured by this act of endeavor, courage and ambition. His words as he left the Eagle have been recorded for posterity. ‘That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind”. These words were beamed to the millions of global viewers making it one of the most watched televised events in history... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2012/time-friend-or-foe/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:50:12 GMT 2672 Yannis Dimarakis The Hellenic government has been struggling over the last 6 months to finalize an austerity package demanded by its 3 creditors (i.e. the IMF, the ECB and the European Commission – know as the “troika”). The package’s aim is to ensure that the deficit will be checked and that public spending will be reduced to sustainable levels. These measures are never popular as they usually entail steep salary and pension cuts, reductions in social benefits, decrease in the quality of health and education etc. None the less, this package, worth 11.5 bn € (a very heavy figure given the scale of the Hellenic economy), was a sine qua non for the release by the creditors of the next installment of funds to the government in Athens. So the pressure was on to wrap this up as soon as possible... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2012/trading-opinions-vs-arguing/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:50:10 GMT 2677 Stephen White Abu Qatada is a Jordanian cleric. He is also an alleged terrorist. He was found guilty in a Jordanian court, in his absence, of committing terrorist crimes. He has lived in the UK since 1993, and until yesterday he was in custody in the UK. The British government have been attempting to deport him to stand trial in Jordan, but he claims that his human rights would be breached if he was sent home because some of the evidence against him has been obtained from witnesses who were tortured. UK and European law prevents a suspected criminal being tried in these circumstances. So deportation has been refused by the courts. On Tuesday he was released from prison, although he will be closely monitored, and protected. The UK government are hopping mad and have pledged to continue to fight to send him home to Jordan... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2012/not-going-home/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:50:12 GMT 2673 Alan Smith My friend’s wife found out that her dog (a Schnauzer) could hardly hear, so she took it to the veterinarian. The vet found that the problem was excessive hair in the dog's ears. He cleaned both ears, and the dog could then hear fine. The vet then proceeded to tell the lady that, if she wanted to keep this from recurring, she should go to the store and get some "Nair" hair remover and rub it in the dog's ears once a month... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2012/cross-purposes/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:50:11 GMT 2674 Alan Smith Years ago I got a call from a client with whom we had a long-term project-based relationship. We had submitted some creative work for a project along with a fee proposal. Our fee was in line with previous work, and we knew from our benchmarking alongside other creative agencies that whilst we were not the cheapest, we certainly offered great value. We had always scored highly against the client’s quality scorecards. My client contact told me that his procurement director had been reviewing marketing costs and was all over him like a cheap suit.... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2012/union-indeed/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:50:11 GMT 2675 Alan Smith On Sunday last week an Austrian skydiver, Felix Baumgartner, jumped from space. He set a world record for the highest jump, at 39km, and the fastest human free-fall, at 1,342km/h. Just to give some context, a Boeing 747 travels at about 917km/h. Pretty quick. The man broke the sound barrier. The planning and preparation that went into the event was staggering... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2012/you-better-be-ready/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:50:09 GMT 2678 Romana Henry My 14 year old daughter's volleyball team received new strips from their supplier this season (shorts and short sleeved shirts). New style, new material, not cheap! After their first match, the girls were mortified at huge black patches of sweat appearing under their arms - apparent to all, even without raising their arms! They rushed to cover their new strips up in between their first and second match. They then all whinged and moaned incessantly. Nothing new there, but this time with a reason. No previous strip had ever met with any such complaints... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2012/no-sweat/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:50:09 GMT 2680 Alan Smith I read a fascinating report that suggested that for many consumers adding more features to products actually has the opposite effect that the producer intended. It actually devalues the product. A piece of research published in the Journal Of Consumer Research, suggests that consumers adopt an averaging approach when validating the value of a product or service... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2012/the-negotiators-paradox/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:50:08 GMT 2681 Stephen White One of the most commented upon blogs we have posted this year is the one we published on the frustration many suppliers feel when they are in receipt of client RFPs. Comments came from suppliers in agreement of the sentiment and many buyers about the bias in the writing.... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2012/rfpeed-off/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:50:08 GMT 2682 Robin Copland There is more and more emphasis on the bottom line. Negotiators are getting ever more ruthless in their search for a “better deal” and sometimes the old “win-win” mantra is lost in the stampede. One of the tactics we see most often used by – and sometimes against – clients is the late introduction of a procurement specialist to a negotiation. In many cases, this person is introduced rather shamefacedly by the regular negotiator; the excuse is given that they are just there to cast a paternal eye over proceedings and check that the deal is watertight.... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2012/double-up-sir/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:50:07 GMT 2683 Stephen White Within the last few days the Obama administration have made it clear that they consider the use of chemical weapons by the Syrian Assad regime on their own civilians to be a red line. What they mean is that if the Syrian government uses chemical weapons, they will have crossed the red line, diplomacy will have come to an end, and military action will follow. Similarly, in neighbouring Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu has chided the US administration for not setting a red line on the subject of the Iranian development of nuclear weapons.... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2012/red-lines/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:50:07 GMT 2684 David Bannister "Put yourself in my shoes!" said trade union official who was role-playing to help some course participants practise their skills. I was reminded of this when, recently on holiday, I was reading a very enjoyable book called "The Bank of Dave". The book tells the story of a Lancastrian entrepreneur and millionaire called David Fishwick who decided that banks had all got rather too big for their boots and so he chose to open a bank of his own to service deposits and loans in his home town of Burnley (if you haven’t read it, it’s really good!)... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2012/in-my-shoes/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:50:06 GMT 2686 Alan Smith What colour is the sky in your World? It was expected that NASA, and by extension the U.S., would be the envy of the world after they successfully landed the Curiosity Mars Rover on the red planet this month. That envy could arguably be driven by the recognition that only a country of the size and wealth of the US could even contemplate the massive investment required to conduct such an effort... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2012/out-of-this-world/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:50:06 GMT 2687 Alan Smith Virgin Trains aimed to shake up the railway business when it took over the West Coast mainline. Now, having lost the franchise to FirstGroup, are they tasting sour grapes or being genuine in their belief that FirstGroup are unable to deliver on their pitch? https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2012/how-much/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:49:39 GMT 2692 Alan Smith When my kids were much younger we had a standard gag. I would ask them what time is it when an elephant sits on your fence? The answer was clearly time to get a new fence. Timing is indeed everything. A similar question could be asked right now with the World’s biggest sporting event still receiving plaudits from around the Globe (except of course the French), as perhaps the best ever Olympic games... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2012/what-time-is-it/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:49:39 GMT 2691 Alan Smith Over the last couple of months I have watched probably more sport than at any other occasion in my life. Much of it to be honest was sport I would not normally watch. Not necessarily because I don’t enjoy it, but because it does not get the coverage that makes it accessible. (Note to self, find out more about how to access women’s beach volleyball). https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2012/going-for-gold/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:49:40 GMT 2690 David Bannister Some years ago, I was teaching a management course in the Far East. My words were to be consecutively interpreted to the class so I had to send all my material for translation in advance. One of the exercises I used was a version of the ‘Prisoner’s Dilemma’, a game where the participants’ integrity is challenged and where they can be tempted to try to gain advantage over other participants by saying one thing and then doing something else to ‘win’ the game... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2012/trust-me-i-am-a-negotiator/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:49:41 GMT 2689 Sam Macbeth I’ve enjoyed watching the Olympics this week. I have also found the debate that has raged about the number of empty seats to be interesting as well. Disgruntled members of the public had tried and failed on several occasions to buy tickets – only to see that there have been numerous empty seats in the stadia during the first week of the Games. Several commentators have complained that LOCOG (the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games) have had “seven years to avoid this situation”. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2012/threatening-behaviour/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:50:06 GMT 2688 Alan Smith There is no doubt that much of what we learn is from experience. In fact the university of life, with all of its hard knocks, creates valuable lessons. The key is do we adjust our behaviour on the back of what is thrown at us. This week I have been running a couple of training courses in Bangkok. My first trip to the area, and I heartily recommend it. Great food, wonderful weather (at least the rain here is warm) and the people are friendly and generous hosts. For the westerner in this part of the world another attraction is the markets... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2012/battle-scars-and-the-negotiator/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:49:39 GMT 2693 Stephen White There is a sweet story about an elderly man who is woken at 3.00am by his wife, who can hear strange noises outside the house. He opens the bedroom curtains and sees robbers stealing some of his stuff from the shed at the bottom of the garden. He calls the emergency line, explains what he can see, and asks for police assistance immediately. ‘Are they actually in your house?’ asks the operator. ‘No’, he says, ‘I’ve told you. They are in the shed at the bottom of the garden’. ‘We don’t have anyone available at the moment,’ says the operator ‘but we will send someone along within 2 hours’. The man puts the phone down, waits thirty seconds, and calls back to the police.... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2012/don-t-mess-with-old-men/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:49:38 GMT 2694 Stephen White There is a sweet story about an elderly man who is woken at 3.00am by his wife, who can hear strange noises outside the house. He opens the bedroom curtains and sees robbers stealing some of his stuff from the shed at the bottom of the garden. He calls the emergency line, explains what he can see, and asks for police assistance immediately. 'Are they actually in your house?' asks the operator. 'No', he says, 'I've told you. They are in the shed at the bottom of the garden'. 'We don't have anyone available at the moment,' says the operator 'but we will send someone along within 2 hours'. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2012/do-not-mess-with-old-men/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:49:35 GMT 2700 Alan Smith A mother passing by her son's bedroom was astonished to see the bed was ?nicely made, and the room clean and tidy. Looking more closely she saw an envelope ?propped up on the pillow.??It was addressed, 'Mum'. With trepidation, she opened the envelope and read the enclosed note with trembling hands. Dear Mum,? It is with great regret and sorrow that I'm writing to you. I have had to elope with my new girlfriend because I wanted to avoid a row with you and Dad.?? I am crazy in love with Stacy, and she is so nice, but I knew ?you would not approve of her, because of all her piercings, tattoos, her tight Motorcycle clothes and because she is so much older than I am.... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2012/lesser-of-2-evils/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:49:38 GMT 2695 Alan Smith I know I am getting on but it used to be that along with the doctor and the local bobby, the bank manager was one of the few people in whom you could put your faith that he would do the right thing. He would sign your passport photos, offer sage words of solid advice about the mortgage and generally be seen to be one of the go-to guys when you really needed it. Not any more... https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2012/trust-me-i-m-a-banker/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:49:37 GMT 2696 Stephen White Paul Simon's '50 Ways to Leave Your Lover' predated social media, so the lyrics don't refer to exiting a relationship via SMS, iMessage, BBM, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, or any of the myriad others. Something like 'It's not you, it's me. Hope we can still be friends', which so conveniently comes in at under Twitter's 140 character limit. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2012/tweetie-pie-a-dish-best-served-cold/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:49:34 GMT 2701 Alan Smith The psychological profile has been a weapon of war, espionage, diplomacy and negotiation since time began. Can we get inside the other side's head and use that information to defeat him. Sun Tzu, the Chinese military strategist, believed that a firm understanding of the other side's mental make up was a prerequisite for victory: "If you know your enemies and know yourself, you will not be imperiled in a hundred battles". https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2012/get-inside-the-other-side-s-head/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:49:34 GMT 2702 Stephen White Last week two RFPs arrived from international companies looking for our proposals and prices for training courses. Both made me mad as hell. If I had my way there would have been an Act of Parliament banning RFPs for anything more complicated than the purchase of paperclips. Corporations looking for the best creative ideas, because they have a negotiating problem or a need which requires the development of training or coaching, do themselves no favours by making potential suppliers go through the mechanical hoops demanded by an RFP. It is undoubtedly not best practice. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2012/rfping-in-the-wind/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:49:33 GMT 2703 Robin Copland London 2012 has negotiators flexing their muscles all over the capital as we approach the final run-up to the Games. In The Times of Friday 23 March, I read that the head of the RMT union, Bob Crow, has broken off talks with the London Underground management team at the UK conciliation service ACAS. The RMT is the union that represents tube workers' interests. The union is threatening strike action as a result of the latest proposals from the management team. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2012/digging-underground-towards-london-2012/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:49:33 GMT 2704 David Bannister Many of us can recall with fondness the original television series of 'Star Trek'. Captain James T Kirk of the 'Enterprise' navigated his ship and all aboard her through many episodes threatened by belligerent aliens and inhospitable far-off worlds. To boldly go. Not a bad ambition for those of us sent out to get better deals. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2012/it-s-a-negotiation-jim-but-not-as-we-know-it/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:49:32 GMT 2705 Alan Smith Terribly difficult question. If you don't know the answer that is. PC Stout was completely flummoxed when a cyclist he had stopped for (allegedly) running a red light in London turned on him and asked on what basis he was being challenged. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2012/what-is-the-basis-of-that/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:49:32 GMT 2706 Tom Feinson Back in the day and before agents rose to prominence, a footballer, having just made his debut for England, decided to ask his club manager for a pay rise. After all his stock was on the rise; surely other clubs, for example, would be interested in him? https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2012/sick-as-a-parrot/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:49:31 GMT 2707 Alan Smith A sales director was playing a game of golf with the procurement director from his largest and most prestigious client. During the round the course ran adjacent to a small road. As the pair drove off on the 8th a hearse started to slowly make its way along the lane and would eventually pass the men. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2012/what-do-you-care/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:49:31 GMT 2708 Stephen White Two accounts clerks and their manager are walking to lunch when they find an antique oil lamp. They rub it and a Genie comes out. The Genie offers each of them one wish.' 'Me first! Me first!' says one of the clerks. 'I want to be in the Bahamas , driving a speedboat, without a care in the world.' Puff! He disappears. 'Me next! Me next!' says the second clerk. 'I want to be in Hawaii , relaxing on the beach with my personal masseur, an endless supply of Pina Coladas and the love of my life.' Puff! She's gone. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2012/out-to-lunch/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:49:30 GMT 2709 Alan Smith Appropriately in 2012 I was talking to a director of a communications agency who had been heavily involved in developing the messaging and communication platform for London's successful bid to hold the Olympics back in 2005 All was looking good but still the actual presentations had to be made to the selection committee when the final decision would be announced. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2012/are-you-ready/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:49:30 GMT 2710 Robin Copland The two biggest world aircraft producers are Boeing and Airbus. These companies have enjoyed a duopoly for the past twenty years, according to Ryanair's chief executive, Michael O'Leary. Ryanair currently operate 275 Boeing aircraft. The airline is the largest low cost airline in Europe. O'Leary changed Ryanair's traditional business model to a low-cost model based on Southwest Airlines. He has since refined that model and famously trails what seem at the time to be outrageous ideas before implementing them and seeing them become part of the traditional way of doing business (scratch cards, paying for drinks and food on board the aircraft, credit card charges and the like). https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2012/competitive-stances-breed-competitive-stances/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:49:29 GMT 2711 Alan Smith Everybody should be advised to take at least two drink-free days a week, say MPs, who urge in a report that safe drinking guidelines should be revised because they are confusing. Even more confusing after a couple of beers! https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2012/which-is-it/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:49:29 GMT 2712 Alan Smith The Christmas tree is hardly dethroned, the last mince pie still to be eaten and the coffee creams the only sweets left when the whole world seems to have shifted on it's slightly larger and wobblier access. https://www.scotworkusa.com/negotiation-blog/2012/the-long-game/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:49:28 GMT 2713