Black Belt Negotiating: Become a Master Negotiator Using Powerful Lessons from the Martial Arts

Three Steps for Finding Middle Ground

After you have sparred with your opponent for a while, you gain a sense of the person’s strengths and weaknesses. In this part of the contest you should concentrate on your strengths and minimize your weaknesses.

In bargaining, you have already set aside virtually all the issues you both agree upon. Now it’s time to focus on the areas of disagreement and narrow them down to a manageable few. If you don’t do this, the deal will seem unwieldy. Everyone’s focus can now be put to good use by developing specific solutions.

First, even with issues that are associated with conflict, there are always areas of agreement. If nothing else, you could just agree about what you both disagree about. In this case, walking ...