The Byrds, described as one of the most influential bands of the 1960’s, sang that “There is a season - turn, turn, turn
And a time to every purpose under heaven”.
Timing is everything. I play tennis to a reasonable club level, but I know that the real difference between this standard and county or national standard is the timing of the way players hit the ball. Listen to professionals practicing at the ATP annual end of year tournament at the O2 Arena in London (where you can stand right by the practice court) and you can hear virtually every shot going off the middle of the racquet.
The same is true in business. In contract or settlement negotiations there is a right time to come out with your final position on any given issue in the context of the overall strategy that is being adopted. Here is a really interesting article from the University of Colorado which postulates that: The timing of negotiations is often critical to their success. Conflict scholars and negotiators often use the concept of "ripeness," comparing negotiation to fruit. If a fruit is picked too early, it will not be ready for eating; however, if it is picked to late, it will be inedible as well. There are also some good links to illustrative examples.
If in negotiating you make your final offer (after which your client will withdraw from the discussions) too early you may never find out what the other side would move too. If made too late it can railroad both sides into failure. Here is a Yale University video on the Ultimatum Game which deals with the consequences of making offers and the use of power in negotiations. It ultimately suggests that making an ultimatum can be counterproductive and lead to no deal.
This blog from the Said Business School at the University of Oxford suggests that Many of us tried to “anchor” a negotiation around an inflated price or controversial issue at the very beginning of a negotiation. If the price stated was too high or the issue too incendiary, then, this often had the effect of unbalancing the difficult dance between trust and its opposite that runs through any negotiation like a lubricant.
And just broadening this idea from negotiations I have also come to realise that there is generally a right time to do things in a professional career. A right time to move jobs or change the way you practice. A right time to seek an internal promotion or career change. If you try at the right time things seem to work out, like pushing at an open door.
At the wrong time then it just doesn’t seem to work out. Winston Churchill struggled to reach the top of the political tree, was virtually ostracised in what were chronicled in an ITV series as the Wilderness Years in the 1930’s, only to become prime minister and a great war leader when circumstance required it for the first time at the age of 65 on Friday 10 May 1940.
There also seems little point in denying the opportunities and indeed pressures of the right timing – as Henry Kissinger once said There cannot be a crisis next week. My schedule is already full.
And a time to every purpose under heaven”.
Timing is everything. I play tennis to a reasonable club level, but I know that the real difference between this standard and county or national standard is the timing of the way players hit the ball. Listen to professionals practicing at the ATP annual end of year tournament at the O2 Arena in London (where you can stand right by the practice court) and you can hear virtually every shot going off the middle of the racquet.
The same is true in business. In contract or settlement negotiations there is a right time to come out with your final position on any given issue in the context of the overall strategy that is being adopted. Here is a really interesting article from the University of Colorado which postulates that: The timing of negotiations is often critical to their success. Conflict scholars and negotiators often use the concept of "ripeness," comparing negotiation to fruit. If a fruit is picked too early, it will not be ready for eating; however, if it is picked to late, it will be inedible as well. There are also some good links to illustrative examples.
If in negotiating you make your final offer (after which your client will withdraw from the discussions) too early you may never find out what the other side would move too. If made too late it can railroad both sides into failure. Here is a Yale University video on the Ultimatum Game which deals with the consequences of making offers and the use of power in negotiations. It ultimately suggests that making an ultimatum can be counterproductive and lead to no deal.
This blog from the Said Business School at the University of Oxford suggests that Many of us tried to “anchor” a negotiation around an inflated price or controversial issue at the very beginning of a negotiation. If the price stated was too high or the issue too incendiary, then, this often had the effect of unbalancing the difficult dance between trust and its opposite that runs through any negotiation like a lubricant.
And just broadening this idea from negotiations I have also come to realise that there is generally a right time to do things in a professional career. A right time to move jobs or change the way you practice. A right time to seek an internal promotion or career change. If you try at the right time things seem to work out, like pushing at an open door.
At the wrong time then it just doesn’t seem to work out. Winston Churchill struggled to reach the top of the political tree, was virtually ostracised in what were chronicled in an ITV series as the Wilderness Years in the 1930’s, only to become prime minister and a great war leader when circumstance required it for the first time at the age of 65 on Friday 10 May 1940.
There also seems little point in denying the opportunities and indeed pressures of the right timing – as Henry Kissinger once said There cannot be a crisis next week. My schedule is already full.
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