Author: briangunia

  • Better meetings now: Agendas as first offers

    As I and many other negotiation researchers have observed, it often makes sense to make the first offer in negotiations—more sense than most of us suppose or most of the random websites on negotiation suggest. As I’ve argued throughout my writings on negotiation, however, the lessons of negotiation research are far from confined to formal…

  • An underappreciated reason to avoid being a jerk in organizations

    I have previously argued that treating the important issues in life as negotiations rather than rules can make life negotiable. But of course, if you do that, the person on the other end and will have to decide whether to accept your attempt at negotiation or refer back to the rules. And herein lies, in…

  • In defense of the quid pro quo

    There have been better historical moments to advocate for the quid pro quo. And I’m certainly not supporting its usage in the circumstances being considered by Congress (see below). But the recent, public demise of the quid pro quo is all the more reason it deserves a public defender. Since seeing and approaching negotiations through…