Negotiating the Impossible

19THE PATH FORWARD

IOFTEN REMIND MY STUDENTS that when they attend a course on negotiation, it does not make the world a better place. It does not make any of the people they will have to deal with in the future nicer, wiser, more sophisticated, or more ethical. All we can try to do is equip you better for dealing with people who are no different than they were before you came to class. This is why almost everything we teach is designed to be effective—to increase your likelihood of success—regardless of whether the other side has ever attended a course on negotiation.

The same is true of this book. Here, I have tried to assume the worst in the situations you will encounter: aggressive moves, deadlock, escalating conflict, lack of transparency, ...