I was thinking about negotiation and negotiation strategies this morning in the shower (what is it about showers that lead me to do some of my most original thinking?).
A couple of things gave rise to this train of thought. First and foremost, I was showering when the temperature of the water changed. As frequently happens in our household two of us were showering in different parts of the house at the same time. What happened next has happened to all of us at some time.
You fiddle with the temperature control to get it back into a satisfactory range, aware that the other person's water will cool correspondingly. Too large a jump and they will be penalized--most likely your next temperature change will be severe as well. So you negotiate. A little tweak so that you get a little warmer but they don't get too cold. The process goes back and forth until the system reaches a balance point where you are both relatively happy.
What does this tell us about negotiation? I think that smaller adjustments are more desirable than the larger ones. Large differences in position (temperature) can result in ill feelings (retaliation).
Posted by artandscience at March 17, 2004 09:31 AM