feel for the truth behind the camouflage; you have to note
the small pauses that suggest discomfort and lies. Don’t look
to verify what you expect. If you do, that’s what you’ll find.
Instead, you must open yourself up to the factual reality that
is in front of you.
This is why my company changed its format for
preparing and engaging in a negotiation. No matter how
much research our team has done prior to the interaction, we
always ask ourselves, “Why are they communicating what
they are communicating right now?” Remember, negotiation
is more like walking on a tightrope than competing against
an opponent. Focusing so much on the end objective will
only distract you from the next step, and that can cause you
to fall off the rope. Concentrate on the next step because the
rope will lead you to the end as long as all the steps are
completed.
Most people expect that Black Swans are highly
proprietary or closely guarded information, when in fact the
information may seem completely innocuous. Either side
may be completely oblivious to its importance. Your
counterpart always has pieces of information whose value
they do not understand.
THE THREE TYPES OF LEVERAGE
I’m going to come back to specific techniques for
uncovering Black Swans, but first I’d like to examine what
makes them so useful.
The answer is leverage. Black Swans are leverage