Category: Negotiations

  • 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…

  • Five pernicious assumptions that your service providers make about you

    If you’re like me, then virtually every week brings an unexpected fee hike. Take last week, when both my cable bill and cellular bill unexpectedly jumped $20 a month. “How in the world can our service providers have such gall?”, you might ask. Well, let me tell you how: they make five common, negotiation-related assumptions…