The No. 1 Rule in Any Negotiation

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The No. 1 rule in any negotiation is don’t take yourself hostage. People do this to themselves all the time by being desperate for “yes” or afraid of “no,” so they don’t ask for what they really want. Instead, they ask for what they can realistically get. I’ve heard many people say, “Well, that’s a non-starter, so we won’t even bring it up.”

~ Christopher Voss

3 thoughts on “The No. 1 Rule in Any Negotiation”

  1. A legal profession variant on this is “Don’t rule on your own motion,” meaning don’t refrain from making a motion (for non-lawyers, an objection or request to the the judge during a trial) because you think it will be denied.

    • And for a variant in our own profession, an old story:

      When John W. Campbell, Jr., was remaking the field of science fiction as editor of Astounding Stories, a novice writer told him that he had never submitted to Astounding because he didn’t think his stories were good enough. Campbell, in high dudgeon: ‘How dare you do my job for me!’

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