{"id":12865,"date":"2022-08-16T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-08-16T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.scotwork.com\/nz\/blog-nz\/a-word-to-the-wise\/"},"modified":"2022-08-16T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2022-08-16T00:00:00","slug":"a-word-to-the-wise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.scotwork.com\/nz\/blog-nz\/2022\/a-word-to-the-wise\/","title":{"rendered":"A word to the wise?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

I am a regular reader of a magazine called \u201cThe Week\u201d. Published in the UK every Friday it summarises news and events published in media from around the world during the previous week. It has business and arts pages, too. One of its regular features is a column featuring quotations called \u201cWit and Wisdom\u201d. I always read the column, sometimes the quotations don\u2019t register with me and sometimes one or more cause me to think or, perhaps, chuckle. This week, I noted three:<\/p>\n

\u201cAn idiot with a plan can beat a genius without a plan\u201d\u00a0 Investor Warren Buffet.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cCuriosity is stronger than fear\u201d Volcanologist Katia Krafft.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThere are no solutions there are only trade-offs\u201d Politician Kemi Badenoch who, in turn, was quoting author, Thomas Sowell.<\/em><\/p>\n

I noticed these three, which occurred together by coincidence, because they all relate to data we have on the behaviour of people who negotiate.\u00a0 For some years we have been collecting data from people and organisations who are coming onto our training programmes to improve their negotiating skills.\u00a0 They give their responses to 50 negotiating issues and we map their responses and produce a report.\u00a0Our database now has about 15000 respondents and is, we think, one of the most substantial pieces of information anywhere in the world about negotiating behaviour.<\/strong><\/em><\/a>\u00a0 The people who respond have not experienced a Scotwork training programme when they complete our survey \u2013 our interest is in how they negotiate before we have the opportunity to influence them.\u00a0 The quotes in the magazine resonated with me \u2013 let me explain.<\/p>\n\n

\u201cAn idiot with a plan can beat a genius without a plan\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

You would be amazed that a significant number of people will enter a negotiation without a fully thought-through plan. A lack of clarity of objectives is not unusual.\u00a0 A cursory examination of those people who have studied and written about conflict strategy will show you that plans should take account of the fact that the unforeseen has a habit of happening and that just one plan on its own will not be likely to survive long. A willingness to review, restrategise and re-enter the fray with a revised plan are likely to be needed to succeed. Maybe that prepared and planful idiot can produce the outcome they want from a negotiation with a self-confident shoot-from-the-hip genius.<\/p>\n\n

\u201cCuriosity is stronger than fear\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

One of the most significant things we notice about the less skilled negotiator in our survey is their attitude to questions.\u00a0 One thing you can guarantee at the start of a negotiation is that you don\u2019t know everything about your counterparty that you would like to know, yet many negotiators fail to ask about what they don\u2019t know (the known unknowns as they were once called) and plan questions.\u00a0 Hoping that what you don\u2019t know, and might fear, will not become an issue in the negotiation, is not a tactic that usually succeeds \u2013 identify what you need to know and complete your knowledge by asking questions which fill the gaps.<\/p>\n\n

\u201cThere are no solutions there are only trade-offs\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

One of the significant findings from our research is that people will often consider that they have \u2018the answer\u2019\u00a0 to the conflict if only the poor, deluded other side can be persuaded to acknowledge it and concede. The other side, of course doesn\u2019t see it that way and will refuse to give in to whatever smooth oratory is aimed at them.\u00a0 People usually have to be given tangible reasons to change \u2013 they get something in return for altering their position.\u00a0 Trade-offs are at the heart of negotiation when arguing your position fails \u2013 as it almost always does.<\/p>\n\n

I thought that I would share these quotes with you to give you pause for thought when you negotiate.\u00a0\u00a0To read the conclusions from our survey please follow the link.<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<\/article>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I am a regular reader of a magazine called \u201cThe Week\u201d. Published in the UK every Friday it summarises news and events published in media from around the world during the previous week. It has business and arts pages, too. One of its regular features is a column featuring quotations called \u201cWit and Wisdom\u201d. 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