Category: Negotiations

  • Dealing with the distrusted: To schmooze or not to schmooze?

    At some point, most of us need to work with someone we don’t particularly trust. It’s not that we distrust them; it’s just that we have no basis for trust, along with the vague heebie-jeebies. Dealing with a potentially distrustworthy person is difficult—but more negotiable if we at least try to schmooze, defined unscientifically but…

  • Gratitude: Or when not to negotiate

    My posts often talk about getting more of what you want. That is by design, as some basic negotiation skills can often help you get more and give more at the same time. Who wouldn’t do that if they could? Yet, the holidays—and especially their gift-giving traditions—offer an opportunity to make the opposite point: that…

  • Negotiations across cultures: To make or not to make the first offer?

    Every day, most of us interact with several people from unfamiliar cultures. In many of our cross-cultural interactions, our inclination is to tread carefully, lest we commit an unwitting cultural faux pas. In a word, many of us act tentatively across cultures. In general, that’s a good thing, reflecting a genuine desire to avoid offense…