Category Archives: Negotiation

Your understanding of “win-win” can harm you

May 28, 2017 By in Management, Negotiation

The idea of win-win outcomes is seductive, it implies that everybody gets what they want. This belief can harm you for three reasons:

  1.  You cannot know what a win means for the other party. After all, negotiation 101 teaches us that one should never reveal their goals to the other person.
  2. Life is not a zero sum game, but neither does it provide unlimited resources. You are competing for the same resources.
  3. This only works if the other person is playing the same game, otherwise you will get slaughtered.

Better to aim for “satisfied – satisfied.” More realistic.

Negotiation: Playing Chicken

November 17, 2014 By in Negotiation Tags:
This entry is part 2 of 6 in the series Negotiation

This article is part of the Negotiation Series.

Chicken is a famous game by which two drivers drive their cars towards each other at high speed. The first driver to swerve to safety is deemed a “chicken” and the loser. If neither driver swerves then a high speed collision results with serious injury and even death. This negotiating style has gained popularity as the strategy that a hard nosed negotiator uses, it has become sexy. This is a problem as it is completely destructive and after any game of negotiation chicken the working relationship between the parties involved become irreparably harmed. Continue reading →

Breaking Negotiation Deadlocks: Pricing the Free Option

November 15, 2014 By in Negotiation Tags:
This entry is part 4 of 6 in the series Negotiation

This article is part of the Negotiation Series.

Implicit assumptions in an argument are assumptions that are assumed true by one or more parties to the argument but not explained or proven to other parties to the argument, especially the decision makers. A simple example, used by parents against their children since time began, is: “If all your friends jumped off a building, would you do that as well?” The implicit assumption is that the friends in this case are not capable of making rational judgments and that if they are jumping off a building they must be foolish. The idea that there may be a good reason to jump is assumed away. We do not expect children to be able to identify such a subtlety. Unfortunately adults would have a hard time identifying this implicit assumption. Continue reading →

Negotiation: Appeals to Authority and the Burden of Proof

November 13, 2014 By in Negotiation Tags: , ,
This entry is part 5 of 6 in the series Negotiation

This article is part of the Negotiation Series.

Have you ever been in involved in a discussion or argument, knowing that you are correct and/or the other person is incorrect but had a hard time proving that you are right or the other person wrong? It is extremely frustrating. It can also be damaging to your career. The frustration comes from your difficulty in expressing logical arguments and, more often, recognising the logical fallacies in your opponent’s arguments. I’ll use an example of an executive who used false logic to try gain access to a large amount of funds. I will highlight the fallacies used in negotiation and how to counter them. Continue reading →

Negotiation: Defending Against the Concession Tactic

November 13, 2014 By in Negotiation Tags: ,
This entry is part 6 of 6 in the series Negotiation

This article is part of the Negotiation Series.

Early in my career I got involved with a person who was supposed to be a partner but who in every interaction with me left me feeling used. Let’s call him Damien. It was easy for me to recognise when Damien was trying to manipulate me and I would refuse his requests. What took me time to understand was how to explain to my peers and stakeholders that Damien was not being reasonable and was in fact highly manipulative. It was only when I read the book Influence by Robert Cialdini that I finally understood the answer. Continue reading →

Negotiation Basics: The Missing Lesson

November 12, 2014 By in Negotiation Tags: 1 Comment
This entry is part 1 of 6 in the series Negotiation

This article is part of the Negotiation Series.

There are many books and articles that discuss contemporary negotiation basics and I won’t repeat what they have to say. My aim, instead, is to discuss how my experience differed from what I was taught about negotiating basics. This experience includes buying and selling companies, raising funds from investors and shareholders, entering into operating and equity partnerships as well as hiring dozens of employees. My conclusion is that game theory doesn’t apply to negotiating but psychology does.

Continue reading →

My Zawya Story: Positive Cash Flow Challenges

October 30, 2014 By in Strategy, Negotiation Tags:

This post is part of the My Zawya Story series.

Most entrepreneurs would be surprised that positive operating cash flow can present challenges. After months, even years, of striving for the magical cash flow break even point what problems can there be once this goal is reached? The challenge is sustainable growth as painful initial sacrifices on expenses are reversed and short term investment horizons on the income front need to be extended.

Continue reading →

My Zawya Story: Acquisition Negotiations

October 23, 2014 By in Private Equity, Negotiation Tags: ,

This post is part of the My Zawya Story series.

In my Origins post I set the stage for the start of discussions between Zawya, led by Ihsan Jawad as CEO, and Saffar, led by myself as CEO, for some form of cooperation. Supporting me in my negotiations were two of the directors of Saffar. Ihsan was supported by one of his co-founders, Husain Makiya.

Zawya needed funding, and Saffar had money to invest. But this was not a pure financial play for Saffar. Saffar had a long term strategy and a data & information company, which it was already building, formed the foundation of this strategy. As such Saffar decided that they must take majority control of the equity if they were to invest. The complicating factor in relation to Zawya was that due to the bursting of the internet dot-com bubble funding was tight and the founders of Zawya were faced with the proposition of having to issue far more equity then they originally planned with the prospect that they would have to relinquish control.

Continue reading →