We live in extreme times. Our political systems have become overly polarised, with highly shrill voices on both sides of the arguments. Nobody is willing to compromise; it’s their way or no way. The middle ground is shrinking.
In the 50 years until the 118th U.S. Congress, the one in session now, Congress passed an average of 520 bills each session. Last year, and we are only halfway through this session (each session is two years), Congress enacted 34!
This is not a new phenomenon. Between 1973 and 1983, Congress enacted an average of 714 bills per session and it has been declining ever since; the average of the last decade, excluding the current session, was 355 bills.
This is not just a U.S. problem; it is to be found the world over. Political parties are becoming more extreme and cooperation is getting harder and harder to find. Our news media promotes division; it makes good headlines. Our media defend themselves saying that they only reflect viewers’ existing opinions.
But businesses do not as a rule take fixed or extreme positions when dealing with other businesses. Rather, they understand that getting things done can require some flexibility. But when it comes to businesses’ dealings with the media and pressure groups, it is a different story.
The gambling industry is not immune. The voices in favour of gambling do not want to give way on any point, blind to the fact that if they do not take the initiative, other people will take charge and the changes will be imposed on the industry. The extreme voices of opposition to gambling want the industry to be made illegal and closed down, no matter that this will not achieve the objectives they seek. Finding an acceptable solution becomes impossible.
Negotiating can help solve most things, while stubbornness is not a quality that will lead to a successful outcome.
Business and politics depend on negotiation. Without it, you get stalemate. Opportunities are missed. Growth is stymied. Buying, selling, salaries, bonusses, budgets, and office politics require negotiation. Everything in business involves negotiation.
And yet, many businesspeople do not approach negotiations very seriously. They arrive at the table completely unprepared and are surprised when they do not achieve what they were hoping.
A lot of my work involves negotiation — negotiating agreements with governments, between businesses, and quite often with people who speak different languages and come from different cultures. I am generalising, but different cultures have quite different approaches to business and certainly different negotiating styles. Some are obvious and will tell you flat out what they want. Others, you might think you know their position fairly quickly, but what they actually want is hidden and it takes a lot of work to tease it out. And some just love to negotiate, even the time of the next negotiating session.
Counterintuitively, the lack of understanding what the other party is saying in the negotiations can be helpful to success. It means that you have to listen carefully to what they say and choose your words judiciously to ensure that they are fully understood.
The approach to successful negotiation is one that requires a great deal of preparation. What do you actually want? What are you prepared to offer? What is a priority and what is “a nice to have”? What will you give in order to get? And at what point would you walk away? You also need think about the other party’s aspirations. What do they hope to achieve? How strong is their negotiating position? It is helpful to think through how those aspirations will impact the negotiations and, as a consequence, how best to present your own.
If you are part of a team, the team needs to be well prepared. I have experienced the other party arguing amongst themselves in front of me, with a negotiator arguing against his team about how to calculate a land value, then finish up by proposing a price that was way above what their client was prepared to pay.
Sitting at the negotiating table is as much about listening as it is about talking. Through listening carefully, you get to understand what the people sitting opposite you are hoping to achieve. You will learn their hot buttons, what is linked, and what they might be willing to negotiate away.
A negotiator needs to create trust. The other party needs to trust you, have confidence that you are not going to damage them, and that you genuinely want to find a way that both parties can succeed. They also need to believe you when you explain why something is not possible, that it is not just trying to be difficult in order to gain an advantage.
Trust allows for creative solutions. Negotiations work well when both parties are willing to find creative solutions. But trust is required because each party does not want the other party to ridicule their proposal. Trust allows all parties to explore what is being proposed in a genuine attempt to find a solution.
There will be a point when some sense of sanity returns to our politics, but that requires trust, something that is currently in short supply.
