The chapter continues to provide strategies to help the reader overcome the distributive negotiation model and move the needle of negotiation towards a negotiation based on principles. Studies have shown that negotiation skills are among the most important determinants of professional success, and while it can be said that negotiation is a bit of an art, there are specific techniques that anyone can learn. With this approach, good negotiators seek areas of agreement and concurrency throughout the negotiations. Principle-based negotiation is about finding an agreement that benefits all parties involved, regardless of whether it's a negotiation between two people or a multi-billion dollar project funding agreement with a non-recourse funding structure.
In this mode of negotiation, there is little scope to take into account the needs and requirements of the other party or the long-term effects of the agreement. Influencers and effective negotiators often think carefully about location and environment, and pay attention to creating an overall beneficial atmosphere, from the distribution of furniture to the arrangement of seats. They created a method called Principle-Based Negotiation, which, as its name suggests, is based on 4 basic principles that guarantee the common good of all participants and is called non-positional negotiation. As expected, in addition to being widely adopted, this method was also the subject of some criticism, as there are no quantitative studies to show that positional negotiation is less good than principled negotiation.
Coming to a negotiation with an open mind, a willingness to reach an agreement, and an understanding of the other party's inherent value (monetary or otherwise) are the most effective ways to create a win-win relationship. A negotiator with a high degree of “process knowledge” initially moves away from the topics of the negotiation and then identifies and manages the process to achieve the desired results. Influential people who exercise power take into account both the real and perceived balance of power between the parties and then make their approach to negotiations more flexible accordingly.
