In the spirit of a negotiable 2016, I thought it might be useful to summarize my musings from 2015. At a minimum, I suspected that putting all the basic ideas in a single place might help people to locate my thoughts on a specific problem, and also find a prospective solution. And finally, I surmised that a summary might help to reveal the many connections across ideas. So here, without further ado, is a summary of my 2015 musings, extended just slightly:

1. When trying to get a toddler to eat (or any formidable opponent to do anything), make the first offer
2. When buying a car (or making any other consequential purchase), fall in love with at least two counterparts
3. When deciding whether to change jobs (or which of any two offers to accept), define your bottom line for each as a function of the other
4. When trying to reduce your bills (or achieve any other optimistic outcome), set and stick to an aggressive goal
5. Actually, when buying a car (or making any other consequential purchase), think about all four of the preceding posts
6. When disputing with the airlines (or any other difficult service provider), hint at your alternatives but not your bottom line
7. When dividing the work with coworkers (or responding to anyone’s first offer), don’t accept their first offer
8. When trying to get a poky person to leave on time (or anyone difficult to comply), equate the first offer with your goal
9. When trying to get a toddler to sleep on time (or, again, anyone difficult to comply), stay mentally focused on your goal
10. When selling something on Craigslist (or anywhere), make your concessions strategically
11. When dealing with a difficult salesperson (or feeling pressured by anyone pesky), use ratification to depart the situation
12. When selling your furniture (or anything else important), make your first offer strategically
13. When figuring out where to spend the holidays (or dividing any other fixed resource), treat it as an opportunity to be creative rather than competitive
14. When making the first offer described in #1 (or any other first offer), don’t make your offer right away
15. When soliciting bids for home repairs (or negotiating with multiple parties of any kind), guard against several common negotiation mistakes
16. When deciding where to eat (or what to do more generally), focus on negotiation rather than persuasion
17. When trying to reverse a service fee (or deal with any other high-power party), don’t let your low power hold you back
18. When asking for a raise (or negotiating anything else of consequence), preparation is nothing short of essential
19. When dividing up the housework (or anything else unpleasant), develop creative options to turn no deal into a deal
20. When figuring out where to spend the holidays (or, again, dividing any other fixed resource), ask yourself some critical questions before accepting an impasse
21. Are the best negotiators like Trump? (not so much)
22. When convincing a child to clean up (or anyone who doubts you to do anything), consider asking for the opposite of what you want
23. When negotiating across cultures (or feeling tentative in general), don’t hesitate to make the first offer
24. When trying to enjoy holiday time with your family (or get along with any group of people), celebrate the differences that make deals possible
25. When dealing with intransigent work colleagues (or anyone intransigent), ask why as we do of toddlers
26. When dealing with intransigent work colleagues (or anyone intransigent), distract them as we do with toddlers
27. When trying to enjoy holiday gift-giving (or appreciate any important moment), gratitude may be more important than negotiation

Here’s to a negotiable 2016!