Negotiations
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- Published on Thursday, 05 April 2012 17:30
One of my ten week classes this semester was a class about negotiations. My fear going into it was that it would be a lot of theory and reading and I'd end up with nothing that I could really apply. Luckily that wasn't the case.
The first thing we did was define negotiations. When you define negotiations more broadly and look at it as a shared decision making process, you realize you are always negotiating. That helped with realizing the potential impact being a better negotiator could have.
Starting in the very first week our professor set up simulated negotiations where we paired up with assigned classmates and hammered out deals. For example, in that first week I played the role of a gas station owner about to break under the pressure of running a business with my wife. I was trying to sell the company to a strategic partner that was looking at building a brand new station in the area. We had something like that every week.
After each negotiation we'd head back in the classroom and right on the board the outcomes of each group. It was a great chance to see what worked, see what didn't and make fun of people. This is generally where the theory aspect of the class was worked in as we discussed results.
I learned a couple of important things through trial and error, watching my classmates and getting their feedback.
- I am kind of an ass. We received some feedback sheets pretty early on and they all said basically that. While I know I can get pretty entrenched in my position if I think I am right, I thought some of the feedback was sour grapes because my opponents didn't fare as well as I did. For example, one girl kind of called me a liar. Not only on my feedback sheet, but also in the class debrief. I let it slide because she is one of those girls that cares way too much about her grade, but I definitely did not lie. Others also indicated I could be a bit unyielding. I can definitely see that and how it would be exhausting to negotiate against.
- Its all about the BATNA. BATNA stands for Best Alternative to Negotiated Agreement. So if you were to walk away from a negotiation, what would be your best remaining option. While its not your only source of power, it is a major one. The first thing I tried to do was figure out what others' BATNA was. If I felt mine was stronger, I could be more aggressive in the negotiations. If I felt mine was weaker, I tried to either shift focus away from my weak BATNA or give the impression that it may be stronger than my opposition realized.
- Balancing the effort of expanding the pie and claiming value. We were taught that "Integrative" negotiators looked for ways to expand the value created in negotiations rather than just claiming whatever value already existed. Typically negotiations are thought of as a zero-sum game - when one party wins, the other loses. While that can be the case, it is not necessary always that way. Through thoroughly examining the issues and potential alternatives, there is an opportunity to find mutually beneficial arrangements where both parties claim value. This expands the negotiation pie, so to speak and both parties generally leaver happier than if just one party claims all the value.
- Naive guys finish last. One of the most annoying aspects of the class was that once the students realized that the goal was to find an integrative outcome in each simulation, they began just sharing all of their information at the beginning to make sure they created whatever value they could, and then just split the value down the middle. For example, one scenario was a college graduate being recruited by a large corporation. There was several issues to negotiate like pay, location, job division, vacation days, etc. Each party prioritized the issues differently. What most groups did was just share their priorities and then hammer out a deal accordingly. This bothered me because it in no way reflected what my experience was in the real world. Even when negotiating with someone you trust completely, this is not how it happens. I feel like anyone who actually tries this is going to get taken advantage of in a major way. Its fine to share information, but you need to be careful that the information sharing will be reciprocated and that someone won't use your trusting nature to screw you over.
Baby Birth Day Guessing Game
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- Published on Tuesday, 21 February 2012 17:17
Probably a little late to be getting this started, but we are now open to your guesses on Poppy's birth day. The person with the closest guess will get some sort of prize. Send in the date and approximate time (for example, my guess is the Feb. 29th at 2AM).
The official due date is 2/29/12.
Lindsay also wanted to point out that she appreciates any guesses that are as close to now as possible.
Good luck!
Book Report: A Game of Thrones
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- Published on Sunday, 19 February 2012 05:25
Title: A Game of Thrones
Author: George R. R. Martin
Genre: Fantasy
Series: A Song of Fire and Ice
A friend told me that I had to start reading "A Game of Thrones" and then watch the HBO series based on the book (in that order). Since I am at a point in school where I would rather do just about anything instead of homework, I jumped at the chance to dive into a highly acclaimed fictional series.
I started out borrowing it from the library on Lindsay's Nook. I think it allowed me to check it out for 3 weeks. I'm a slow reader and I don't like to feel forced to push through a book so I hardly made a dent in the 800+ pages. Luckily, Christmas was approaching and I lobbied heavily for the paperback. Casey came through and gave me the whole series.
The book started out buried in detail. There were SO many names and places to try and remember. I had to pretty quickly abandon any hope of keeping track of anyone but the main character's names. For the locations, I referenced HBO's really cool interactive map (link).
The book follows three main stories as they play out in and near the Seven Kingdoms. One story follows the Starks, the ruling family in the north, as they get caught in the middle of all sorts of intrigue as those around them seek to sit on the Iron Throne and rule the Seven Kingdoms. Another story follows the last remaining exiled heirs of the Targaryen family. The Targaryens ruled the Seven Kingdoms until they were killed in a revolution. Finally, the last story follows the happenings of the Nights Watch at The Wall. The Wall is an enormous structure built from ice meant to keep The Others (kinda like Lost I guess) out of the Seven Kingdoms. The Nights Watch patrols the lands north of the wall and stand as the last line of defense for the the significant, but often forgotten threat of what lies north of The Wall.
The book was very entertaining. I found myself getting very emotionally caught up in the characters' lives, especially Ned Stark (Warden of the North). Also, I grew very attached to the direwolves. A direwolf is basically a larger more ferocious version of a regular wolf. They grow to the size of small horses and scare the crap out of people. Beyond being generally awesome, a direwolf is the symbol of the House of Stark. Each of the Stark children was given a direwolf puppy when Ned found them next to their dead mother. The direwolves may have been my favorite part about the first book. Which probably is why my biggest critique of the HBO series is that they didn't include the direwolves as much as they should have. Hopefully that changes in season two.
The HBO series is also very well done. It stuck very close to the book and I think the acting is, for the most part, really good. I would highly recommend the first season. Season 2 begins at the beginning of April.
Blind Dog
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- Published on Thursday, 16 February 2012 01:05
I heard a story called "Blind Dog" on NPR yesterday and I really enjoyed it.
Something about the producer's voice (Scott Carrier) adds a certain element of emotion to it. Listen to it below.
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Tebow Hater
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- Published on Sunday, 08 January 2012 23:13
I've kind of backed of the really formal resolutions for the last few years. Instead, when I think of something I want to change, I try to implement it as it comes to me. As I prepared to watch the Steelers play the Broncos (which I'm watching right now) I discovered something I want to change. I want to quit being a hater.
Being a hater comes pretty naturally to me. The latest focus of my hater tendencies has been Tim Tebow. The thing I realized is that I don't hate Tebow. I actually have a lot of respect for his determination and principles. It is how everyone else talks about, reacts to, worships Tebow that makes me hate him. Earlier this season when the Broncos were in the middle of a big win streak I took this snapshot of one of my sports news feed.
So out of all sports in the world SI chose to have 50% of their feed dedicated to Tebow. And my favorite part is that one of my favorite sports writes Peter King chose to write a headline that was so ridiculous I thought about never reading another one of his articles again. He wrote, "Tebow vs. Belichick the most compelling matchup of the year". I'm sorry, but that's just stupid. Last I heard, Bill Belichick was one of the greatest coaches in the game and Tebow was a very new QB whose own organization won't fully commit to. To even suggest that they were matching up is ridiculous.
It was this frenzy around Tebow that drove me nuts. But thats no reason to be a hater. So that is why today I am rooting for the Broncos and Tim Tebow to win against the Steelers. Its a little easier since I hate the Steelers, but thats a whole other resolution.