Dealing with the ‘Irrational’ Negotiator

October 3, 2007 from Harvard Business School – “What do you do when the people with whom you are negotiating act in ways that can best be called counterproductive?”

180 View (written by Lawrence Young) – Unless you live alone on a deserted island, you are constantly required to negotiate for what you need to live and what you want out of life. Whether it’s getting your kids to do their homework and eat their vegetables, or getting your boss to give you a raise or a promotion, what do you do when you seem to be negotiating with someone who ‘just won’t give in’? Have you ever tried persuading someone to see it your way that just doesn’t seem to ‘get it’?

In this Harvard Business School article, HBS professors Deepak Malhotra and Max H. Bazerman tell us that “Negotiators who are quick to label the other party ‘irrational’ do so at great potential cost to themselves”. They then describe how to improve our dealmaking skills by showing us what to do when the other party’s behavior does not seem to make sense.

To further learn how to negotiate more skillfully and confidently in any environment, click here for another HBS article published on September 26, 2007.