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  • Quora - Why are some people better negotiators than others?
  • ~1600 - Francis Bacon - Of Negotiating
    • Felix Dennis quotes this in his chapter on negotiation in How to Get Rich.
    • Here's what he said broken into separated lines:
      • It is generally better to deal by speech than by letter; and by the mediation of a third than by a man’s self.
      • Letters are good, when a man would draw an answer by letter back again; or when it may serve for a man’s justification afterwards to produce his own letter; or where it may be danger to be interrupted, or heard by pieces.
      • To deal in person is good, when a man’s face breedeth regard, as commonly with inferiors; or in tender cases, where a man’s eye upon the countenance of him with whom he speaketh may give him a direction how far to go; and generally, where a man will reserve to himself liberty either to disavow or to expound.
        • NW: An A related example I can think of for the first case ("when a man's face breedeth regard") is LBJ intimidating people by leaning over them.  It's not quite the same thing but it seems to be roughly the same idea.
      • In choice of instruments, it is better to choose men of a plainer sort, that are like to do that that is committed to them, and to report back again faithfully the success, than those that are cunning to contrive out of other men’s business somewhat to grace themselves, and will help the matter in report for satisfaction’ sake.
      • Use also such persons as affect [enjoy] the business wherein they are employed; for that quickeneth much; and such as are fit for the matter; as bold men for expostulation, fair-spoken men for persuasion, crafty men for inquiry and observation, froward [stubborn] and absurd [stupid] men for business that doth not well bear out [justify] itself.
      • Use also such as have been lucky, and prevailed before in things wherein you have employed them; for that breeds confidence, and they will strive to maintain their prescription.
      • It is better to sound a person with whom one deals afar off, than to fall upon the point at first; except you mean to surprise him by some short question.
      • It is better dealing with men in appetite, than with those that are where they would be.
      • If a man deal with another upon conditions, the start or first performance is all; which a man cannot reasonably demand, except either the nature of the thing be such, which must go before; or else a man can persuade the other party that he shall still need him in some other thing; or else that he be counted the honester man.
      • All practice [scheming] is to discover [reveal / do recon], or to work [manage / make use of / take advantage of recon].
      • Men discover themselves in trust, in passion, at unawares, and of necessity, when they would have somewhat done and cannot find an apt pretext.
        • NW: I don't understand this. I'm guessing "discover themselves" means "tell the truth" or "reveal some truth about themselves". I don't what he means by "would have somewhat done".
      • If you would work any man, you must either know his nature and fashions, and so lead him; or his ends, and so persuade him; or his weakness and disadvantages, and so awe him; or those that have interest in him, and so govern him.
      • In dealing with cunning persons, we must ever consider their ends, to interpret their speeches; and it is good to say little to them, and that which they least look for.
      • In all negotiations of difficulty, a man may not look to sow and reap at once; but must prepare business, and so ripen it by degrees.
  • Quora - Why are some people better negotiators than others?
    • Yishan Wong:
      I'm not a great negotiator myself, but this is what I observed from carefully watching the best negotiator I've ever known:

      Most "okay" negotiators are simply good at talking a lot. I've observed this in a lot of BD people. They just talk to fill the empty air, and by doing so they blot out your mind from thinking critically and manage to get you to agree with them that way. Some of them may be charismatic, and apparently research shows that charisma can help shut off the parts of a brain responsible for skepticism and vigilance (see http://www.newscientist.com/arti...), so maybe they exploit this.

      However, the best negotiator that I've known (and this guy was better than all the others, by a long shot) operated completely differently. When you met with him, he really didn't talk much. He would just ask you questions about what you wanted and listen really carefully. He would then follow up with more questions trying to get at how you felt about different possibilities or formulations of what you'd just told him. People like to talk about what they want and how they feel about it, so they will tend to go on about things if you let them, and he would just let them do that, all the while listening really carefully. By doing this, he'd gain this unusually detailed understanding about their core motivations and what they personally wanted, specifically, from a potential deal or in general (like, from life) as well as their disposition towards how offers would ideally be presented. He would then sort of go away for awhile and figure out how to structure the right deal given the resources/abilities at his (or his company's) disposal, and then present them with a deal. He didn't seem to need to "talk them into it" very much, the key seemed to be all about carefully using his data to get into their heads to find out what kind of deal would be most appealing to them.

      I personally had the experience of being interrogated (gently) by him once when I first met him, which I considered a non-threatening enough experience, and then later to have worked with him on the same side where he remarked on some of these things and I got to observe him in action. Later I put it all together and realized what he was doing with me the first time we met. I think what's most interesting to me is that he was so different from all the other guys and (I think as a result) far more effective.

      It also gives me hope, personally, that I can become a better negotiator, because I'm not really one of those endlessly blathering individuals (I can talk good, but not forever), but I am reasonably good when it comes to listening carefully.

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