Never Split the Difference: Negotiating as if Your Life Depended on It

the opposite of the Burnham case, where our negotiator cut
the deal with one of the guys and then the rest of them took
the $300,000 and said, “No, we’re not doing that.” Causing
the other side to work that hard and forcing that much
internal coordination in service of our own goals was
unprecedented.
Our negotiating strategy in Ecuador worked not just
because the questions contributed to the environment that let
José escape, but because they made sure the kidnappers—
our counterparts—were all on the same page.
Yes, few hostage-takers—and few business deal makers
—fly solo. But for the most part, there are almost always
other players, people who can act as deal makers or deal
killers. If you truly want to get to “Yes” and get your deal
implemented, you have to discover how to affect these
individuals.
When implementation happens by committee, the
support of that committee is key. You always have to
identify and unearth their motivations, even if you haven’t
yet identified each individual on that committee. That can be
easy as asking a few calibrated questions, like “How does
this affect the rest of your team?” or “How on board are the
people not on this call?” or simply “What do your
colleagues see as their main challenges in this area?”
The larger concept I’m explaining here is that in any
negotiation you have to analyze the entire negotiation space.
When other people will be affected by what is negotiated
and can assert their rights or power later on, it’s just stupid