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Breaking a Stalemate
When a negotiation fails, people often think they have to fight back. However, there are better ways. For example, you can use empathy to create more of a collaborative environment and reframe the problem so that both parties can come up with solutions together.
“The Power of Framing”
When the other side disagrees with your proposal, try to see it from their perspective. The way you present a proposal is just as important as its substance. For example, in 2011 NFL players and owners were at odds about how to divide profits. Players wanted 50% of the money; however, owners offered 58% but only after they took $2 billion off the top for themselves. With an agreement needed by August 4th or else there would be no football season that year, both sides agreed on a new idea: split up revenues into three “buckets”—one gave players most of TV rights money while others favored owners—and everyone was happy in the end.
Try to influence the frame of an entire negotiation. For instance, if you want to negotiate for a win-win situation instead of a winner-takes-all one, then try framing it as such.
The way you frame negotiations can affect the outcome. You can control the framing by either establishing it yourself or reframing an existing arrangement. If you’re first to set the frame, your ideas will become default and more likely to succeed in future negotiations.
When you enter a negotiation that has an existing frame, evaluate it quickly and move to modify it as soon as possible. Framing can mitigate two problems that frequently drag down negotiations: 1. The audience problem – The other side worries about what they will get out of the deal and about how they will sell the agreement to their constituents. Frame your offer so the other side can describe the deal as a victory; 2. The problem with too much information – It’s important for negotiators on both sides to have enough information to make smart decisions, but there is often too much information available in negotiations, making it difficult for people on both sides to focus on what really matters.
- If you’re working on a single issue, it can create a “zero-sum problem” because any concession seems like a loss for the other side. You can mitigate this by offering to give up something that’s less important to you or by shifting focus away from your conflicting demands and onto your underlying common interests.
Framing in Decision Making
In business, people don’t always make decisions based on the cost-benefit analysis. Instead, they choose what seems to be the most appropriate option for them based on several criteria: * Social proof – People will often judge an option to be appropriate if they see other people making that choice. To boost the appeal of an option, demonstrate or signal that it is popular with others. * The default option – Enhance an option by framing it as the standard choice. For example, Dr Behfar Ehdaie found that when he advised prostate cancer patients against surgery and radiation therapy and instead recommended monitoring their condition with six month checkups; most new patients assumed surgery was the most likely option -the default- and resisted when Dr Ehdaie proposed a different approach (monitoring). When he changed his approach and described monitoring as being the default -offering surgery or radiation as alternatives-, more patients chose monitoring (35% compared to 15%).
- “The reference point” – The author provides the reader with a way to identify and change your counterpart’s frame of reference. If you are negotiating with someone, ask yourself what they might be thinking or how they would evaluate something in order to change your approach. For example, if you’re trying to sell an office space online but it doesn’t have a bathroom, make sure that the buyer knows this before he makes his decision so that he can revise his expectations (and therefore get excited about buying the property). Then explain why having no bathroom is not actually as bad as one might think and thus selling him on its potential benefits.
