Author: briangunia

  • What’s so hard about negotiating in organizations?

    Negotiations in organizations have a tendency to go wrong. Requests for an exception get denied, proposals for the future get rejected, solutions to a problem get parked in the perpetual parking lot. But why do so many of us find intra-organizational negotiating so hard? Put differently, is there something special about organizations that makes negotiations…

  • Small wins: Or motivating kids to eat

    High-stakes negotiations often go south when the parties perceive a lack of progress. Think trade-related brinksmanship, abandoned mergers, and athletes who walk away from failed contract extensions. In such situations, the absence of progress is decisive. For the same reason, though, the presence of small wins—tiny victories offering at least a glimmer of hope—can help…

  • Our own worst enemy in negotiations II: Rushing to do a deal

    I recently discussed a common way we defeat ourselves in negotiations: by rejecting our own proposals before we ever present them. But there’s another, potentially more common way that most of us undermine our negotiating prowess: By letting the great press of daily to dos rush us into negotiations without adequate contemplation or preparation. Since…