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- Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
- Kategorie: Fachliteratur
- Sprache: Englisch
Master the art of getting what you need with a more collaborative approach to negotiation Quantum Negotiation is a handbook for getting what you need using a mindset and behaviors based on a refreshingly expansive perspective on negotiation. Rather that viewing every negotiation as an antagonistic and combative relationship, this book shows you how to move beyond the traditional pseudo win-win to construct a deal in which all parties get what they need. By exploring who we are as negotiators in the context of social conditioning, this model examines the cognitive, psychological, social, physical, and spiritual aspects of negotiation to help you produce more sustainable, prosperous, and satisfying agreements. We often think of negotiation as taking place in a boardroom, a car dealership, or any other contract-centered situation; in reality, we are negotiating every time we ask for something we need or want. Building more robust negotiation behaviors that resonate beyond the boardroom requires a deep engagement with others and a clear mindset of interdependence. This book helps you shift your perspective and build these important skills through a journey of discovery, reflection, and action. * Rethink your assumptions about negotiations, your self-perception, your counterpart, and the overall relationship * Adopt new tools that clarify what you want, why you need it, and how your counterpart can also get what they want and need * Challenge fundamental world views related to negotiation, and shift from adversarial to engaging and satisfying * Understand the unseen forces at work in any negotiation, and prevent them from derailing your success In the interest of creating an environment that elevates everyone's participation and assists them in reaching their full potential, Quantum Negotiation addresses the reality of hardball and coercion with a focus on engaging the human spirit to create new opportunities and resources.
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Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2017
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Table of Contents
Cover
Title Page
Acknowledgments
The Authors
Foreword
Introduction: What Comes to Mind When You Think of Negotiation?
Paula's Story
Martin's Story
A Quantum Perspective
Informal Negotiation
Lina's Story
The Quantum Approach
About This Book
PART I: Quantum Negotiation Practice
1 The WHO & WHY of Quantum Negotiation
Anchoring Equilibrium and Achieving Buoyancy
Cognitive
Emotional
Social
Physical
Spiritual
Buoyancy
Why Does Negotiation Often Cause Such Strong Reactions within Us?
Laughter and Negotiation
Assuming Responsibility
The Risk of Accommodation
Summary: Stay Anchored and Grounded
2 The WHAT & WHAT IF of Quantum Negotiation
Negotiation as a Battle
Leverage—Necessary to Getting What You Want
Losing the Ability to Influence What We WANT
Analyze Fair and Objective Criteria
3 The HOW of Quantum Negotiation
Quantum Leadership—HOW to Negotiate
Using the Whole Brain
Quantum Divorce Negotiation
HOW to Behave as a Quantum Negotiator
Developing a Sociocentric Orientation
Designing a Quantum Plan to Win
Quantum Leadership Transforms Organizational “Silo” Behavior
Responding to Manipulation Tactics
How Quantum Negotiators Handle “Hardball” Tactics
Quantum Leadership Embraces the Opportunities in Conflict and Change
Quantum Negotiation and Style‐Shifting
Quantum Leaders Manage Energy
Quantum Leaders Forgive
Summary of HOW to Get What You Want and Need
PART II: Quantum Negotiation Tools
PART III: Quantum Negotiation Mindset
4 Independence Is a Powerful Illusion
New and Improved Framework
Independence versus Interdependence
Summary
5 What You See Is Not What You Get
The Quantum Negotiation Profile (QNP)
1. Task–Relationship Centeredness
2. Schedule–Process Focus
3. Implicit–Explicit Communication
4. Big Picture–Detail Orientation
5. Direct–Discreet Conflict Handling
6. Situation‐ and Rule‐Based Approaches
7. Self‐, Other‐, or Mutuality Focus
Summary
6 Leading Is Not about the Leader
Quantum Leadership Resonance and Mindfulness
Ordering versus Engaging
Yvonne's Mindful Leadership and Civility
Conclusion
QN References and Further Reading
Index
End User License Agreement
List of Illustrations
Chapter 1
Figure 1.1 The Quantum Negotiation Anchor.
Part II
Figure Tools A.1 Power of Understanding—Preparation Framework.
Figure Tools A.2 Negotiation Behavior—Guidelines and Checklist.
Figure Tools A.3 Pull–Push–Move Away Energy in Negotiation
Figure Tools A.4 Push Negotiation Energy Examples
Figure Tools A.5 Pull Negotiation Energy Examples
Figure Tools A.6 Move Away Negotiation Energy Examples
Chapter 5
Figure 5.1 Quantum Negotiation Profile.
Figure 5.2 Task–Relationship Scale
Figure 5.3 Schedule–Process Scale
Figure 5.4 Implicit–Explicit Scale
Figure 5.5 Big Picture–Detail Scale
Figure 5.6 Direct–Discreet Scale
Figure 5.7 Situation–Rule Scale
Figure 5.8 Self‐Other‐Mutuality Scale
Guide
Cover
Table of Contents
Begin Reading
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Karen S. Walch | Stephan M. Mardyks | Joerg Schmitz
Quantum Negotiation
The Art of Getting What You Need
Copyright © 2018 by WILEY. All rights reserved
Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New JerseyPublished simultaneously in Canada
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per‐copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) 750‐8400, fax (978) 646‐8600, or on the web at www.copyright.com. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, (201) 748‐6011, fax (201) 748‐6008, or online at www.wiley.com/go/permissions.
Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and author have used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales representatives or written sales materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation. You should consult with a professional where appropriate. Neither the publisher nor the author shall be liable for damages arising herefrom.
For general information about our other products and services, please contact our Customer Care Department within the United States at (800) 762‐2974, outside the United States at (317) 572‐3993 or fax (317) 572‐4002.
Wiley publishes in a variety of print and electronic formats and by print‐on‐demand. Some material included with standard print versions of this book may not be included in e‐books or in print‐on‐demand. If this book refers to media such as a CD or DVD that is not included in the version you purchased, you may download this material at http://booksupport.wiley.com. For more information about Wiley products, visit www.wiley.com.
Library of Congress Cataloging‐in‐Publication Data is Available:
ISBN 9781119374862 (Hardcover)ISBN 9781119374909 (ePDF)ISBN 9781119374879 (ePub)
Cover Design: WileyCover Image: © aleksandarvelasevic/iStockphoto
Acknowledgments
We would like to thank our spouses, Paul, Marie‐Genet, and Latha, and our families for their support, patience, and enthusiasm for this project.
Our sincere gratitude goes to our dedicated team who played an instrumental role in guiding this book to publication:
David M. R. Covey, for his invaluable contributions to
Quantum Negotiation
and ongoing support
Christina Schmitz, David Westley Covey, Jacob Covey, Liz Gotter, and Scott Henderson, who were instrumental in helping us organize our thoughts
The team at Wiley for their ongoing support and for patiently guiding this book to publication
All our Quantum Negotiation partners and colleagues across the world
We also would like to thank our clients worldwide and the many negotiators we have met along the way who have told us their stories and placed their trust and confidence in us.
Finally, we dedicate this book to all the leaders, managers, entrepreneurs, professionals, and negotiation experts who are on a journey of true value creation.
We wish you the success you truly deserve.
The Authors
Karen S. Walch, PhD, is a partner at Clair‐Buoyant™ Leadership, LLC, and co-creator of the Quantum Negotiation Certification programs. She is an Emeritus faculty member of Thunderbird School of Global Management. Karen specializes in the social interaction skills of negotiation, collaboration, influence, and inclusion. Her facilitation and coaching are focused on developing leadership behaviors for maximum personal and organizational impact in a dynamic and disruptive global economy.
Stephan M. Mardyks is a world‐renowned expert in the field of global learning and development. He has conducted countless strategic negotiations in over one hundred countries. Stephan is the founder of Wisdom Destinations, the co‐CEO of SMCOV, and cofounder of TrapTales and Streamline Certified. He is also managing partner at Lead in English and ThomasLeland. His past experiences include serving as Co‐COO at FranklinCovey. Stephan is the coauthor of Trap Tales, Leading in English, and Said & Done.
Joerg Schmitz is cofounder and managing partner at ThomasLeland. He is a business anthropologist with extensive experience helping leaders and organizations navigate the challenges and opportunities of culture and globalization. As a senior advisor and consultant, he has developed innovative approaches to intercultural management, diversity and inclusiveness, global talent and team optimization, and leadership development. Joerg is the coauthor of Leading in English.
For more information about Quantum Negotiation, please visit the website at www.quantumnegotiation.com
Foreword
More than thirty years ago David Lax and James Sebenius coined the term “the negotiator's dilemma” in their classic book, The Manager as Negotiator. It's the so‐called tension between creating value (expanding the proverbial pie) and claiming it (capturing a favorable slice of it).
The tension derives from two opposing impulses. Value creation requires recognition of the parties' respective interests. If they bluff and bluster in order to mask their true priorities, they'll be unable to see how to generate mutual gains by trading creatively on their differing priorities. On the other hand, if one negotiator unilaterally reveals his or her interests while the other does not, the former risks being exploited. The pie may be expanded, but the sly party will get the lion's share.
The creating‐claiming tension (cooperating and competing, if you prefer) isn't merely about outcomes, though. It is more fundamentally about values, identity, and relationships—specifically, self‐regard versus concern for others. Two thousand years ago Hillel posed two questions that are inherent in negotiations today. “If I am not for myself,” Hillel asked, “then who will be for me? But if I am only for myself, what am I?”
Identifying dilemmas, be they substantive or moral, is one thing. Managing them effectively is quite another. Most negotiation books skirt this territory. Yes, some writers address the ethics of specific tactics (such as lying), though typically without exploring foundational principles, attitudes, and beliefs. Now at last, the arrival of Quantum Negotiation warmly invites readers to reflect more deeply about the social nature of a process that is essential in both our professional and our personal lives.
The authors' much‐needed framework builds on and integrates five key insights. First, unlike many writers who take an individualistic approach, their unit of analysis is the interaction between the parties. And so it must be. Negotiation is inherently a social activity. Each party brings his or her attitudes (conscious and otherwise) about what the specific transaction encompasses and, more broadly, what negotiation itself entails. In short, the authors here focus on the dance rather than the steps of a single dancer.
That perspective yields a second insight, namely that negotiation is necessarily a dynamic process. I am not speaking narrowly of the back‐and‐forth exchange of offers and demands. Rather I'm commending the authors' emphasis on how the process itself is always cocreated, especially in regard to the way that relationships emerge. Will the parties be friends or foes, for example? And what are the tacit rules of engagement? Will this be easy or will it be hard? Such questions never can be answered unilaterally. They must be jointly determined. Exactly how things will play out—even between people who know each other well—is seldom fully certain.
The authors take those first two points and add a third, by emphasizing the physical and emotional ways that we experience negotiation. They introduce us to two archetypes who pose questions to the authors throughout the book. First there's Wendy, who relishes negotiation and the thrill of besting her counterparts. And then there's Thomas, for whom the mere thought of the process triggers dread and self‐doubt. It's not the intent of these authors, however, to pigeonhole people or to tell readers to suppress their emotions. Quite the opposite, in fact. Rather, they show how self‐awareness and empathy can be the basis of more satisfying results for all concerned.
They link this third insight to a fourth by reminding us how loaded are some of the terms we commonly use, most notably the word “negotiation” itself. For many people it calls up associations about power, status, vulnerability, and competence.
The word also implies some sort of conditional trading, as in “I'll give you some of this, if you give me some of that.” That framing brings with it an economic outlook, often at the expense of other considerations. To be sure, tangible concerns matter. A candidate for a new job will need to earn enough money to pay her rent, but she'll also want the resources and guidance to perform well. In addition, she'll care about respect and fairness. How we name things shapes our perceptions and drives our behavior. Saying that we are “negotiating pay” takes us down one path. Seeing ourselves as “developing a job description” takes us down another.
Weaving together these first four insights (interaction, dynamics, embodied experience, and a fresh look at framing) the authors build a compelling case for the importance of the mindset that we bring to the process. Here the authors coach Wendy and Thomas to adopt a broader, socio‐centric view of negotiation, one that prompts each to see how his or her particular sense of self is expressed and enacted through dealings with others. The authors also remind us of how, in this day and age, negotiation and leadership are closely intertwined, as each requires openhearted engagement. In addition, the authors provide a practical Quantum Negotiation planning framework.
Most of us know some people like Wendy, as well as others who are closer to Thomas in temperament. In quiet moments, at different times, we may have heard whispers of each of them in our own minds. The question then is whom do we want to summon when we are negotiating for ourselves or leading others? As for myself, I cannot imagine a better companion and guide than a nimble, buoyant, and empathetic Quantum Negotiator.
Introduction: What Comes to Mind When You Think of Negotiation?
We tend to get two distinct reactions to this question.
Some people pride themselves as being savvy dealmakers, and are excited by the idea of negotiation. They love to tell us about their most memorable negotiation, reporting with pride how they achieved a particularly desirable outcome through some savvy maneuver.
For others, the mere topic triggers doubt about their own abilities and sense of self, eroding confidence in otherwise very confident people. They confess that they dread negotiations and easily feel taken advantage of. They do not see themselves as shrewd enough or assertive enough, and so they prefer to avoid negotiation wherever possible.
Both of these reactions stem from a conventional view of negotiation as a battlefield, in which the negotiator with superior strategy and tactics will prevail. If you don't know the tactics and countertactics, or if you're not willing to play the game, you don't stand a chance against your opponent. The outcome of such negotiations is deeply tied into our sense of self—after it is over, you are either the heroic winner or the weakling who got taken advantage of.
Although the idea of “win‐win” may be regarded as the common aspiration, it is not how most people experience negotiations or choose to behave when negotiating. In reality, negotiation behaviors follow an “I win more, you win less” approach, matched by high levels of distrust and a struggle over power and control.
We'd like to offer you a better approach.
We'd like to offer you an approach that allows the savvy dealmaker to obtain even more value from their negotiations, and gives self‐doubters the confidence to get what they need without having to accommodate.
We invite you to set aside the conventional approach toward negotiation for a moment and look at the topic through a new lens. The conventional view is not serving you.
Paula's Story
Paula, an ambitious sales rep for an innovative shoe manufacturer, has been negotiating with a large wholesale retailer, a “Goliath” in the industry. From her perspective, the retailer—more precisely, Ben, their buyer— “wasn't interested in playing fair.” Ben continually reminded her of the retailer's single‐minded and presumably nonnegotiable mantra of low prices.
Paula needed this deal and knew that Ben needed it too. Her shoes were in high demand—the shoe manufacturer had grown explosively through the endorsements of popular fashion bloggers who loved the unique design and interchangeable components. A line of shoe accessories was about to launch in a few months and the demand was incredible, particularly among teenage girls. The company had big growth plans to expand into new markets.
A partnership with “Goliath” could solve the challenge to meet the explosive demand. Paula also needed this win to accelerate her career. She knew that failure to negotiate this relationship would damage her company and, as a result, her career opportunities within it.
Driven to win, Paula took an aggressive negotiation stance. She started with a tough low‐ball opening price position and referred often to Joe, her VP of Sales, as the intransigent “bad cop.” As Ben showed no interest in a long‐term relationship, she pushed on a settlement price close to her offer price, aggressively dismissing Ben's assertions.
She applied numerous tricks she had picked up from books on negotiation and from her mentors. She was keenly aware of the hurdles women faced in negotiations with men like Ben, who was well advanced in his career and smug in his belief that all the leverage was with his “Goliath.” She wasn't about to let him walk all over her.
Paula also had some cards up her sleeve. Significant time and planning went into a high‐stakes gamble early in the negotiation, namely to bluff on a threat to expose Ben's company's discriminatory labor practices. She also aggressively overwhelmed Ben with thousands of pages of documentation about what he called the “feeble” retailer competition.
Now, however, after three months of a controlled, “smart” strategy and tactics, she was at an impasse. Ben and Paula ended their last two‐hour meeting in anger and frustration. With still no agreement and a lot of bad feelings all around, the clock was ticking toward the demise of what could be the most important deal of her life.
Paula stands in for the hundreds of negotiators we have met who have exhausted the conventional negotiation approach. This approach has been glorified in a list of tactics and countertactics and an underlying set of assumptions that are poorly aligned with a professed “win‐win” approach.
Even with a tremendous body of negotiation advice, and an abundant offering of negotiation seminars, negotiators can find success to be elusive, despite their best attempts to put the current wisdom into practice.
The pressure and aspiration to succeed may lead to a negotiation stance that amounts to what is essentially a high‐stakes gamble, with no assured outcome. The resulting stalemate benefits neither party and leads to nerve‐wracking drama that decreases the probability of success and alienates the negotiating parties from each other and their mutually beneficial opportunities.
At the same time, “designated negotiators” find that the set of hard‐nosed strategies and tactics, presumed to be the essence of negotiation success, undermine deeply held values, attitudes, and intentions. Hardball strategies, in addition to their underlying belief system and assumptions, may contradict negotiators' sense of self and aspirations for authentic, positive relationships. The resulting intrapersonal and interpersonal conflict can alienate negotiators as much from others as from themselves, induce insecurity, and may jeopardize their true potential and satisfaction.
Martin's Story
Martin was nominated to negotiate a $4 million reduction in the purchase price of a platform acquisition after discovering misplaced reporting codes in the company's financial statements. His company, MCC, is a private equity firm seeking to buy WINSOME, a consumer electronics distributor operating across thirteen countries. WINSOME's rep, Renaldo, was assigned to negotiate with Martin. WINSOME had no CEO or CFO because it had gone through several restructurings in the past few years, resulting in misaligned financial reporting systems. To complicate things further, WINSOME had never been separately audited.
As an accountant, Martin did not feel like a negotiator. He was doubtful of his ability to go up against Renaldo, a professional negotiator. Martin knew that there had been little oversight at WINSOME and he had discovered inconsistencies in their reporting. However, he was intimidated with how firm and argumentative Renaldo was in their interactions. Martin found himself foregoing his own concerns, and felt vulnerable to Renaldo's competitive and dismissive attitude.
While being cooperative and accommodating to Renaldo's situation, Martin behaved in a generous way, yielding to Renaldo's strong point of view. He did not like the tension in their conversations, and didn't want to come off as pushy or inconsiderate. By being unassertive and trying to develop a good relationship with Renaldo, Martin avoided unpleasant topics.
That didn't change the fact that Martin ultimately needed Renaldo to cooperate with him if Martin was to take leadership of the new acquisition's financial system. After several months of negotiating, Martin had to report to his board that he still had not gotten the price reduction they had asked him to negotiate. As he left the meeting, Martin felt this was the end of his much‐desired new leadership opportunity. His sense of failure and disappointment in himself reinforced his belief that he was simply not a good negotiator.
For nonprofessional negotiators, the very term “negotiation” can induce mild to strong levels of anxiety and insecurity. More than almost any other type of human interaction, negotiation is associated with high stakes, risk, distrust, and unpredictability. Perhaps this is what the volumes of literature and seminars take advantage of. They fill the need for the assurance and certainty that we seek. Defaulting to strategies and tactics that are often highly manipulative, and sometimes downright deceptive, only panders to this insecurity.
The contention at the heart of this book is that success in negotiation does not stem from such strategies and tactics at all.
A Quantum Perspective
Over years of working with negotiators, we have observed that lasting success is connected to attentiveness to small, seemingly insignificant aspects of their relationships.
We find parallels in the world of physics. For many years, Newtonian physics held that atoms are separate and can be controlled in a linear, command‐control, predictable way. In the same way, traditional negotiation theory argued that negotiators are separate and would find most success with efficient, fear‐based, reward‐punishment strategies.
However, quantum science discovered that below Newtonian matter lies an interconnected web of subparticles known as quanta. Previously unseen, these quanta represent a multidimensional, unifying, unseen energy that forms the basis of our physical reality.
Similarly, we contend that negotiators are not separate and isolated from one another; they are part of one interdependent whole of a relationship, team, or organization. In fact, the very act of negotiation affirms the inherent interconnectedness and interdependence.
This concept has provided profound insights about how to get more of what you need in life. The difference comes in making the choice to be conscious of the emotional, neurological, and strategic interconnectedness of social life, and then manifesting that consciousness by how we show up with those that we seek to influence. From this perspective, negotiation does not have to be intimidating or anxiety inducing, because it is the deliberate practice of interdependence. We have observed a small group of leaders and negotiators who rely on this practice and have been astounded by their success as they have identified the common misconceptions surrounding negotiation, and have made changes to their lives to better get what they need.
In his book, The Speed of Trust, Stephen M. R. Covey's account of Warren Buffett's negotiation to acquire McLane Distribution from Walmart is a highly visible example not only of the “speed of trust,” but also of Quantum Negotiation. A deal of this magnitude would minimally take several months to complete. But because both parties were attuned to each other and shared a sense of mutuality, the usual hurdles and complications were not just reduced, but circumvented altogether. As Buffett wrote in his annual report: “We did no ‘due diligence.’”
Rather than focusing on the goal of surviving as an independent winner, Quantum Negotiators can embrace the uncertainty and anxiety in their human nervous system by remembering how unified they are at the quantum level. They have more success, satisfaction, and energy in meeting their needs, getting support, and enjoying life's resources. As a result, they create sustainable and resilient outcomes.
Quantum Negotiation presents a more inclusive paradigm as an alternative to the conventional practice, which often amounts to little more than Machiavellian behavior disguised by the language of win‐win. Illuminating the quantum reality of negotiation and illustrating its practice gives every negotiator a fundamental choice of consciousness.
Making this choice in favor of a quantum approach seems even more relevant when we consider that leaders and negotiators increasingly cope in an ocean of complexity, uncertainty, turbulence, disruption, and cultural shifts. Particularly under such disruptive and accelerated VUCA conditions (volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous) we find the distinction between leading and negotiating to be blurry at best.
Informal Negotiation
Negotiation, particularly in its Western conceptions, is associated with the explicit pursuit of contractual outcomes or agreements. (We call it Negotiation with “the big N.”) We tend to think of “a negotiation” as something taking place in a boardroom, or at a car dealership.
However, we are negotiating much more frequently than we often realize. In fact, we are negotiating any time there is something that we need, and we must work through someone else to get it. Whenever we calibrate expectations, create new ways of doing things, share limited budget resources at home and work, or cooperate to solve pressing problems, we are negotiating. We are practicing the art of getting what we need by engaging with others.
It is helpful, therefore, to cast our understanding of negotiation widely and to think more deeply about our skill and identity as negotiators. Indeed, these are the defining characteristics of “Quantum Negotiators” and “Quantum Leaders.” To a degree, both terms are interchangeable, as negotiations, both formal and informal, are the arena for leadership.
Successful leadership is contingent on the negotiation of agreements about perceptions and behavior. The process of negotiating and the resultant agreements behind these “micronegotiations” are more tacit and implicit, and require a continual dialogue that allows contributors to offer their best in an increasingly collaborative team‐ and project‐based work environment. We call this negotiation with “the little n.”
Lina's Story
Lina Jessen was asked to manage a project to develop new values for a multinational organization headquartered in the Nordics, with key operations in Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, the United Kingdom, Central Europe, and the United States. The CEO was committed to transforming the company to a purpose‐driven and values‐led organization. The existing values statement had become well entrenched, and although it was neither inspiring nor aspirational, particularly to a younger generation that was difficult to attract and retain, it served the company well.
The organization was extremely fragmented and siloed into proud and independent business units and local operations. Headquarter‐driven changes were routinely met with strong resistance, both overt and covert. This tendency was strongest in the US operations, where the existing values statement had been developed. The culture there was such that defiance of the headquarter mandates was an open act of heroism and a badge of honor, celebrated among local leaders. The seeming futility of Lina's mission was underscored to her after she gave a brief introductory presentation about her project. An influential leader approached her after the presentation and commented that she might as well give up as there was “no chance in hell” that the organization would move away from its current values.
Lina was only too aware of this prevalent attitude from a one‐year rotation in the United States a few years prior. In addition, being a project manager gave her almost no leverage with local leaders. She was distraught and discouraged, and the project had not even fully kicked‐off yet.
Lina may not see herself as a negotiator in the classic sense of needing to gain a formal, contractual agreement. But her mission, in fact, resembled the most complex and delicate of international negotiations. She needed to navigate corporate politics and power dynamics in the pursuit of credible support for an intangible—a new set of values. She had very little real leverage, which made this a daunting task to be sure.
Lina stands in for anyone in a complex, highly matrixed, and geographically dispersed organization where their success is dependent on the ability to influence and negotiate. When this type of leadership takes place in highly unfavorable conditions, such as when benefits are not readily apparent to one's counterpart and it is easy to be dismissed, ignored, or sidelined, leadership and negotiation are just two sides of the same coin. For that very reason, we are using the terms leader and negotiator interchangeably in this book.
Leadership and negotiation are both centrally focused on an intricate social process that includes converging the interests of multiple stakeholders, creating explicit or implicit agreements, aligning expectations and understanding, and shaping choices and behaviors in accordance with expectations and understanding. The quantum approach to negotiation and leadership that we advance in this publication makes this intricate social process, and our part in it, the central focus.
With orientation and attentiveness to the invisible forces of social interaction, we find that negotiators are able to be buoyant and adaptable in their style. As an observer of one's own and others' emotional, social, physical, and spiritual needs, Quantum Leaders are able to be clear and anchored about their own needs. This anchoring serves as a foundation for buoyant behavior when adapting to uncertain environments and diverse viewpoints.
We have found this perspective missing or underrepresented in many of the current approaches to negotiations, which is why we decided to add our unique take on negotiation that will be a companion on your own journey to becoming a Quantum Negotiator and Leader.
The Quantum Approach
We have been developing this approach for a few years now, but we are publishing it, coincidentally, at a time when its central themes, practices, and reflections are more important than ever. This book arrives against the backdrop of the rise in increasingly polarized public and social discourse.
Our core contention is that people involved in leading or negotiating—whether in pursuit of classic contractual outcomes (“the big N”) or as part of the continual dialogue that allows contributors to offer their best (“the little n”)—are best served by adopting a sociocentric, interdependent mindset.
This mindset is highly relevant to two of the more compelling trends of our times. We reject the recent repopularization of egocentric, winner‐versus‐loser styles captured by the return of triumphalism, brinksmanship, and the disregard for cooperation and compromise that so typifies much of our public discourse. We also believe that a more interconnected world, with the ability to harness the potential creativity of billions of new members of the global economy, will require inclusive, collaborative leaders and negotiators fully engaged in creating conditions where people can deliver their best. Our understanding of success needs to be guided by these criteria and conditions.
Mary Parker Follett coined the term “power with” rather than “power over” others in negotiation. Quantum Negotiators have explored this first approach versus the coercive “power over” approach when leading others. Quantum Negotiators use a set of negotiation rules, customs, and preparation techniques that produce more sustainable, prosperous, and satisfying agreements for today.
Quantum Negotiation is concerned with developing the mindset and skills required to attain the most satisfactory outcomes, in the hopes of creating a future work and social environment that focuses on elevating everyone's participation and assists people in developing to their fullest potential. We address the reality of seductive hardball and coercive negotiation practices, but we focus on how to engage the human spirit and its power to create new opportunities and resources.
