When’s the last time you had a really great conversation with a customer or a supplier and learned something about them. You may have answered, “Never.” But if you have had a great conversation with a customer or supplier, what did you speak about? What did you learn about who they are? What did you learn about what they believe? What did you learn about what drives them? What did you learn about what they…
Check the Ego at the Door
Do yourself a favor, check your ego at the door before you walk into your next negotiation. Two weeks ago I delivered a negotiation program to a group in my local area. In every program I deliver, we apply the knowledge through focused and tailored role plays. The group that I was with were no strangers to negotiation. Many of them had been in roles that require negotiation for 20 plus years. All of them…
Know When to Hold ‘Em
“You’ve got to know when to hold ’em Know when to fold ’em Know when to walk away And know when to run” The chorus to Kenny Rogers’ song, “The Gambler” always gets me thinking of negotiation and poker. Both disciplines are so intricately linked and both have so much in common. The opening line of the chorus, “You’ve got to know when to hold ’em” may be one of the most profound things anyone…
The Danger of the Escalation of Commitment
“We have to move forward with this decision,…..we’ve already spent the money!” The escalation of commitment (or the related sunk-cost fallacy) is when we behave completely irrationally and continue to pursue something that delivers increasingly negative outcomes (monetarily, psychologically, emotionally, etc.) instead of altering course. “Yeah, Mark, this doesn’t happen to me. I’m totally rational and if I can see that it’s producing negative results, I change my course of action.” If you just thought…
The Danger of Confirmation Bias
“I knew I was right! That explains everything exactly as I has suspected!” Confirmation bias is the inclination to look for and remember selective information that confirms or supports our preexisting beliefs or ideas. Yes, this is a real thing. And yes, you do it. Sometimes we want so badly for something to be a certain way that we allow our emotions to cloud our judgement about that issue and only look for information to…