Crisis Negotiation

He Issued A Demand or Deadline, Now What?

“We want four million dollars, forty 1,000-year-old ginseng roots, a 50-troop military helicopter, to take us to Thailand…and four bullet-proof...

Preparing to Negotiate

Negotiation Structure Dictates Negotiated Outcomes

There is a general principle that structure dictates outcomes. This is seemingly a very simple idea. While clichés like this one can be very helpful,...

Preparing to Negotiate

Is Logic Real?

We all like to think that we have a certain amount of logic, some more than others, especially when it comes to making decisions that have a serious...

Preparing to Negotiate

Negotiation as Inception

Remember the movie Inception? Leonard DiCaprio plays Dom Cobb, a master thief who is tasked with planting an idea in CEO Robert Fischer’s mind. Cobb...

Preparing to Negotiate

The Seduction of “You’re Right” in Negotiations

We probably love hearing “you’re right” more than we love hearing “yes” and “yes” has been described as the most beautiful word in any language. Yet...

Preparing to Negotiate

At The Table

In every negotiation there is information that can only be obtained at the negotiation table, these bits of information will often change everything...

How to Negotiate

Sun Tzu Would Agree With Hillary

Last week, during a speech at Georgetown University, Secretary Hillary Clinton advocated, “…showing respect, even for one’s enemies. Trying to...

Preparing to Negotiate

Ignore Human Nature at Your Peril

This phrase is one of the negotiation philosophies we live by at Black Swan. It is amazing how much you can get accomplished in any given...

Preparing to Negotiate

An FBI Hostage Negotiator Teaches You – The “Chris” Price

As a hostage negotiator, I know that getting a hostage taker to use the hostage’s name humanizes the hostage and makes it less likely they will come...