In cleaning up my office so it could be repainted and re-carpeted, I came upon an article in the July 2018 ABA Journal (volume 104) entitled, “Sounds of Silence” by Philip N. Meyer (pp. 22-23.) ( "ABA Article"). The ABA article notes that a pause at the right moment can [Read More]
My husband and I recently went on a cruise. One of the stops was Nassau, Bahamas. While my husband was looking for something in a shop, I wondered off and into a jewelry store. There, I was given a refresher course in negotiation tactics. I was looking at rings when [Read More]
Over the years, many people have told me that they sometimes use the “carrot and stick” approach as a negotiation tactic. Wikipedia defines this tactic as The phrase "carrot and stick" is a metaphor for the use of a combination of reward and punishment to induce a desired behavior. It is based on the [Read More]
The art of negotiation seems to be very much in the news today, with issues involving trade, tariffs, immigration, arms sales, nuclear arms, et cetera. In preparing to teach a class on negotiation ethics as part of my Mediation Ethics course at USC Gould School of Law, it dawned on [Read More]
In October 2015, I posted a blog about a then recent New York Times article on the benefits of anger in negotiations. In “The Rationality of Rage”, Matthew Hudson reviewed then recent studies indicating that in a balanced negotiation, anger tends to provide some leverage; it helped the angry negotiator [Read More]
One thing I have learned about agreeing to teach a class is that it has caused me to focus on many things that have otherwise been floating around in my subconscious. One of these is negotiation tactics: what is permissible and what is not. In researching this topic for class, [Read More]
Imagine this scenario: “Jack” is having a conversation with “Jill” about whether to go up the hill to fetch a pail of water. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_and_Jill_(nursery_rhyme)) From out of nowhere, Jill makes an offhand but biting remark to which Jack responds negatively. The ensuing conversation gets totally off track on whether they [Read More]
In recent years, much has been made of the fact that we are living in the digital age: we are tethered to our smartphones, iPad, laptops and other devices and are heavily dependent on them. Much like Pavlov’s dogs, whenever our smartphone beeps, vibrates, rings et cetera, we check it [Read More]
