Author: briangunia

  • Compromise: The bane of your next team presentation

    I have often contended that—contrary to popular wisdom—compromise is bad. The fundamental problem? Compromise takes two people’s desires and cuts them in half, leaving nobody particularly happy. Sure, it’s better than an impasse (sometimes). But it’s often worse than a variety of more creative solutions. Nowhere is the problem more apparent than in the creation…

  • Win-win or win-whatever? Setting our sights just a little bit lower in negotiations

    Why is it that most people—even those who take (or teach) negotiation classes—still find it hard to negotiate? I’m here to argue for one of many reasons: the possibility that in many situations, most of us set our sights just a little too high. Anyone who’s taken (or taught) a negotiation class can summarize the…

  • Negotiating Life’s Non-Negotiables

    My posts routinely suggest that life becomes negotiable when we apply some simple scientific principles from negotiation research. But we all know that not everything’s negotiable. The weather (it’s been raining in Maryland for months), our own health (we all face the fickle hand of fate), the state of American politics (nuff said). Some things…