In business, it would be difficult if not impossible to achieve a notable measure of success without having inked a significant number of agreements with other parties?most appreciably with conflicts inherent in the process having been pleasingly overcome for all involved. Whether negotiating a sale with an existing customer or prospective new account, contracts with vendors, deals with company and industry stakeholders, a M&A situation, the salary of a new hire or any other, negotiating is a fundamental driver of a company?s prosperity. The better company personnel are at negotiating, the more successful it will be. It?s that simple. Of course, negotiation is a learned skill that one must first master and then continue to hone?one involving psychological intuition, emotional control, cognitive agility and even creativity combined with practical and tactical skill. So important is this function and the dynamic the outcome establishes, the nonprofit public policy research organization The Brookings Institution offers a ?Negotiation: Strategies for Results? course helping people learn, among other things, how to ?enhance the quality and logic of negotiation agreements; and, as a result, increase the likelihood of true consensus.?
The institute?s approach of leaning on logic as a key driver in facilitating desired outcomes?and experiencing that ?winning? vis a vis an outcome of genuine unanimity?intrigued me. So often, fast track companies in particular have a ?win at all ...