Whereas the \'Interest\' Refers to the Why

¶ … whereas the 'interest' refers to the why of the situation: why someone acts the way he or she did. A skilled negotiator attempts to uncover, understand, and address the interest behind the other's position in order to get at the root of the issue. At the same time, it will help him to distinguish between his own 'interest' and 'position' so that he understands why he wants what he does. Distinguishing enhances his negotiating skills.

Fisher and Ury mention four obstacles to generating creative problem solving options: (1) arriving at a decision too early -- being too reckless and failing to consider options; (2) trying so hard to find a simple single answer that one narrows possibilities (3) defining the problem in win-lose terms (rather than in win-win to both parties); (4) placing the onus on finding a solution to the other party.

In all four instances, lack of taking the time to generate options has led into the impasse. They advocate: (1) both inventing and separating options; (2)

Taking the time to create as many options as possible rather than generating a single solution; (3) generate options that help win-win; and (4) look for options that make decisions easy.

Options make it more possible that both parties will find some effective solution that pleases either side.

3. BATNA was a term coined by Roger Fisher and William Ury in, Getting to Yes. It is the situation that stands in for the best you can do when the other party refuses to negotiate with you and tells you to 'get lost." If worst occurs and this happens, Fisher and Ury have outlined a three step proposal: develop a list of actions to take if negotiation is stall-mated (for instance if the party refuses to lower his price); choose the most promising ideas and convert them into practical options (you may decide it still worth your while to do business with him); tentatively select the choice that seems best to you (go ahead -- do business with him but do so in a hesitant manner with conditions).

The more attractive you're BATNA, the more power you have in the negotiation, and the reverse is the case too.

4. The first type would be trying to uncover the underlying issue behind both parties' position and seeking to address that (both the interests and objectives of each party so that the platform for discussion can be expanded). In the win-win, parties engage as colleagues towards a future good rather than as adversaries. It assumes that most negotiations are made up of numerous issues and both parties work together to uncover them in order to form a mutually desirable solution.

The other goal would be attempting to discover what the objective is. Clearly defining and singling out the objective of either party would also help both parties see whether their negotiation is jointly progressing towards the desired goal, or whether they have to modify points of their negotiation in order to reach it.

Focus on interests and goals helps both work together in a friendly way towards mutually desired ends.

5. I have gained new knowledge / enhanced my skills in the following two areas: I have internalized the fact that negotiation need not be adversarial as has been commonly thought. Nor need it be fared. It can actually be compassionate and peace-loving when done in a win-win fashion with negotiator focusing on intentions and goals. In this way, negotiation is a ploy that can be brought into almost any aspect of life in order to enhance it. Certainly, it can be introduced to many aspects of interpersonal communication. It is a core of marketing where understanding the interests (underlying needs) and objective of both me and the other can help us both reach our desired goals in a better and more amiable manner. When done so -- I have come to realize -- successful negotiation avoids the 'random walk' syndrome.