Not that long ago, THE REVELATOR asked some questions around negotiations and how you could turbo-charge them for a better outcome. Of course, the doctor answered because this is becoming an even more important topic given the state of world, and technology, affairs, but its also one that needs a repeat discussion because this topic comes up a lot and the doctor fears that everyone is missing at least one key point.

What does it mean to “turbocharge” negotiations?

How about “what should it mean”. Everyone has their own answer for “what does it mean”, and most aren’t that useful.

Turbocharge should mean to back up with facts (based on organizational data) and market data relevant to every aspect of the negotiation, to go in knowing both what value there is in it for you as well as your BATNA, and the value that it is in for your counterpart, and a best guess at their BATNA.

Without all this insight, you don’t know if you even have a leg to stand on, or how to reach common ground to carry the negotiation forward. Data insight goes much, much, further than a carrot or a stick ever will.

What do you define as being a successful negotiation outcome?

A successful negotiation outcome is a win-win. It’s not a zero-sum win-lose game like a certain world famous infamous author thinks it is … unless, or course, both parties have the exact same collection of goals which they would rank and weight the exact same way, which is astronomically rare. Thus, since the vast majority of the time both parties have their own unique definition of winning, which can have some overlap, both parties can win.

What are your thoughts about AI and the negotiation process?

When it comes to AI and Negotiation, the answer is no, No, NO, 𝐍𝐎, 𝓝𝓞! Since it’s not true artificial intelligence, you should never, ever, ever let it negotiate as that is letting the system make a decision, vs recommending a decision, which even IBM told all its employees 46 years ago that this is something you should NEVER, EVER do!

To what degree do experience and expertise impact negotiations?

Experience and Expertise both help, but reality is that the results depend more on the differential between the two parties at the table than any scale you might come up with to measure your own. So you want both, but you should always expect to be outmatched, which is why data, facts, and insight are so critical. If you can find that common ground and give up at least some of what the other party truly wants, you have a much better chance of getting something you want and coming out okay.

Bonus Questions

“Are women better at negotiation than men?”

That would, of course, depend on your definition of negotiation and success. I’m inclined to say yes, but if your definition of success is to be a complete a-hole pre, during, and post, well, I’ve seen way more men who excel at that.

“Is AI better at bluffing than humans?”

Regular humans, or sociopaths? Since AI has no feelings, and doesn’t understand truth from lies, depending on how you define bluffing, it can be absolutely great at it … or not.

“Is AI “Genderless”

Not the right question. We know tech is genderless.

The right question is the following: Is AI trained genderless? Usually not as its usually trained on results that were predominantly created and input by men (who make up 75% of STEM). So it’s not genderless and, sometimes, it is very, very biased.

FINAL QUESTION

Is it the technology or how you use it?

It is most definitely how you use the technology, not the technology itself. Heck, you can get good results with a carrot if you are in negotiations with a bunny. 😉

And that technology must be used to get you the data and insights you need to have a good human to human negotiation. No more, no less. Because, at the end of the day, that’s the only way you can turbocharge a negotiation for success!