I remember working with one of the best lead negotiators I have encountered in my working life (he planned carefully and as a result executed complex contract negotiations very effectively) who had a pretty awful commute to work from Hertfordshire to Swindon in Wiltshire. It’s an hour and a half at the best of times and often much longer. He told me that his secret was just to take it easily, drive calmly and within the speed limit and above all avoid hurrying and just accept the traffic as a necessary daily chore. As he said the drivers who stayed out in the fast lane breaking the speed limit and flashing their headlights at slower drivers who got in their way only arrived a few minutes before he did anyway.
As I drove to and from work this week I tried to emulate my mentor in this respect and I did find it made the journey easier and more relaxing. As I did so I couldn’t help but notice the different attitude of some drivers who were rushing, driving close behind the car in front and gesticulating rudely at anybody who got in their way. They displayed no courtesy or consideration for other road users – and I am absolutely sure it did them do good either health wise or in terms of how they behaved when they got to work, or worse still returned home.
It is actually the same in a negotiation. There is no point in rushing in like a bull in a china shop and trying to take the discussions by the horns and force the pace. It just antagonises everybody, and not only in the opposition – your team won’t thank you especially if it is unplanned and driven by stress and not thought through.
There are of course times to push on in a negotiation to put the pressure on the other side but in most situations as this article on key negotiating tactics comments Take your time. Generally, you will not achieve the best outcome quickly. Although there are exceptions to this rule, you are usually better off negotiating slowly and with perseverance.
Of course, everybody sets time limits and deadlines for finishing a deal and some are real (like meeting a financial year end) but some are artificial and just set by somebody on one of the teams, or even a more remote stakeholder on one side or the other. I like the comment in this article on negotiation All too often in a negotiation, the other side has informed you that the deadline is a “hard stop”. This is interesting information, but I wouldn’t give it too much weight. The beauty of any negotiation is that just about everything is negotiable, and this includes the deadline. If the other side believes that they can reach a deal with you, they’ll be willing to bend on the deadline so don’t get too worried about it.
Timing can of course be critical in any negotiation. This piece on “The Art of Timing in a Negotiation” interestingly compares timing in a contract negotiation to great works of art As in art, timing can greatly impact the results of a negotiation and discusses how to manage and make use of time as the deal progresses.
There are also cultural differences as to the appreciation of and use of time, as anybody who has been involved in a negotiation with French and US parties will be able to attest. This short blog from Harvard Law School The Right Time to Negotiateidentifies the differences between a Western and a Middle Eastern approach to time For centuries, the West has operated on “clock time,” mechanically measuring out minutes and hours. By contrast, “event time”—how long it takes to get from one place to another or to complete a task—is traditionally more important in Middle Eastern cultures.
And to put the subject into a more intellectual context Albert Einstein once said “The only reason for time is so that everything doesn't happen at once.”
Anyway driving and negotiating should above all be fun and enjoyable and not a daily chore driven too much by time pressures, especially if they are artificial. As Simon and Garfunkel cheerfully sing:
They call me Baby Driver
And once upon a pair of wheels
I hit the road and I'm gone
What's my number
I wonder how your engines feel
As I drove to and from work this week I tried to emulate my mentor in this respect and I did find it made the journey easier and more relaxing. As I did so I couldn’t help but notice the different attitude of some drivers who were rushing, driving close behind the car in front and gesticulating rudely at anybody who got in their way. They displayed no courtesy or consideration for other road users – and I am absolutely sure it did them do good either health wise or in terms of how they behaved when they got to work, or worse still returned home.
It is actually the same in a negotiation. There is no point in rushing in like a bull in a china shop and trying to take the discussions by the horns and force the pace. It just antagonises everybody, and not only in the opposition – your team won’t thank you especially if it is unplanned and driven by stress and not thought through.
There are of course times to push on in a negotiation to put the pressure on the other side but in most situations as this article on key negotiating tactics comments Take your time. Generally, you will not achieve the best outcome quickly. Although there are exceptions to this rule, you are usually better off negotiating slowly and with perseverance.
Of course, everybody sets time limits and deadlines for finishing a deal and some are real (like meeting a financial year end) but some are artificial and just set by somebody on one of the teams, or even a more remote stakeholder on one side or the other. I like the comment in this article on negotiation All too often in a negotiation, the other side has informed you that the deadline is a “hard stop”. This is interesting information, but I wouldn’t give it too much weight. The beauty of any negotiation is that just about everything is negotiable, and this includes the deadline. If the other side believes that they can reach a deal with you, they’ll be willing to bend on the deadline so don’t get too worried about it.
Timing can of course be critical in any negotiation. This piece on “The Art of Timing in a Negotiation” interestingly compares timing in a contract negotiation to great works of art As in art, timing can greatly impact the results of a negotiation and discusses how to manage and make use of time as the deal progresses.
There are also cultural differences as to the appreciation of and use of time, as anybody who has been involved in a negotiation with French and US parties will be able to attest. This short blog from Harvard Law School The Right Time to Negotiateidentifies the differences between a Western and a Middle Eastern approach to time For centuries, the West has operated on “clock time,” mechanically measuring out minutes and hours. By contrast, “event time”—how long it takes to get from one place to another or to complete a task—is traditionally more important in Middle Eastern cultures.
And to put the subject into a more intellectual context Albert Einstein once said “The only reason for time is so that everything doesn't happen at once.”
Anyway driving and negotiating should above all be fun and enjoyable and not a daily chore driven too much by time pressures, especially if they are artificial. As Simon and Garfunkel cheerfully sing:
They call me Baby Driver
And once upon a pair of wheels
I hit the road and I'm gone
What's my number
I wonder how your engines feel
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