I’m Healed (A Review of ‘Practical Perspectives on Negotiations’)

The Ailment
It was completely preposterous of me to make this assertion, but that never stopped me from doing it… Saying ‘I do not like negotiations’ – completely preposterous, I know. Because, first and foremost, there is the matter of business agreements… I enjoy making them. They often involve finding solutions to problems; and I love solving problems. But before one can have the privilege of a business contract – i.e., the opportunity to solve problems – they ought to have undertaken the art of negotiating; and I thoroughly enjoy that process too. So then why would one – me – go about making such statements: “I hate negotiating”?

It was the most peculiar thing.
But if you would permit me, I think I can take you through my thought process – making that statement. I thought I hated ‘negotiations’ – hear me out – because there are seldom truths to them. Half-truths, sometimes blatant lies, that is all ‘negotiations’ seemed to revolve around. Person X intentionally overpricing their goods or services…Let me rephrase this… Person X, expecting Person Y’s wanton ‘negotiating’ of prices perhaps, intentionally overprices their goods or services… Worse, Person X, bizarrely wanting to come out of this deal of selling his/her own goods or services, as the winner, goes about standing their ground in this overpricing, deigning to move their positions only by a little margin – or not at all. This mischievous sparring, I completely detest it. This ‘me-against-you-ness’ characteristic of ‘negotiations’… This zero-sum game… I win, you lose; or you lose, I win. Neither of these outcomes excite me. I totally despise it.

Or so I thought…

The Antidote

Or so I thought – until I read Prof. Douglas’ book, ‘Practical Perspectives on Negotiations.’

Bargaining!
That is the word I should be using—bargaining.

Because it turns out: negotiating and bargaining – two fundamentally different things.

Negotiating v. Bargaining

“Negotiation is nothing more than communication with different starting points… but with a mutually beneficial resolution as the end goal,” citing Sharon and Stephen Weinstein, Prof. Boateng writes in this page-turner. Bargaining, on the other hand, he writes, is “simply about haggling for the best deal or outcome from an engagement…” Bargaining focuses on “attaining goods or services for the cheapest possible price…” It focuses on “purely winning” while the other loses. People tend to go into bargaining, bizarrely not only looking to win, but also with the intention of causing the other party to lose.

While negotiation “focuses on recognising each other’s needs” and “actively engaging in dialogues aimed at developing mutual understanding and agreement”, bargaining tends to focus on recognising one’s own needs only and deciphering means of bluffing the other out of their positions. In bargaining, “each side often adopts an extreme position, knowing that it will not be accepted, and then employ a combination of guile, bluffing, and brinkmanship to cede as little as possible before reaching a deal,” Prof. Boateng paints a vivid picture.

And I must say that in so painting this portrait, the reader, in their own mind – owing to their own life experiences and perception of the world around them – is taken on one rollercoaster of a ride. One year ago, in my review of his other work, ‘Practical Perspectives on Boardroom Governance’, I expressed how difficult it was to put that book down. I for one, read that book in one sitting. But for this particular book, ‘Practical Perspectives on Negotiations’, I must say that the experience was a different one – albeit just as equally profound. That’s because the mind cannot help but spiral into example-setting with each word read from this book. From the biggest to the smallest of human experiences – from national discourse, politics, economic affairs to geopolitics, and all the way down to the interpersonal; right from the boardroom to the client-acquisition negotiating table, all the way to Makola market, the experiences to draw from – the subjects to which the matters catered for in this book have direct application and implication – are endless.

Take this excerpt just quoted for instance – i.e., the one regarding people intentionally adopting extreme, unfeasible positions when it comes to bargaining… Reading it, one cannot help but think of Trump – the self-acclaimed quintessential deal-maker – who, in ‘The Art of the Deal’ blatantly indicates, “My class of deal-making is quite simple and straightforward, I aim very high, and then keep pushing and pushing and pushing to get what I’m after…” [Yes, he wrote ‘pushing’ three times]. Trump plays fast and loose with words, but on this matter, one cannot accuse him of lying, can they? For isn’t he presently putting this brutish display of guileful brinkmanship on for all the world to see?

Right from his handling of the global citizenry – so-called allies and foes alike – from Iran to China, Cuba, Colombia, Mexico, Greenland (‘Give me your land’), Denmark (‘Give me Greenland’s land – its sovereignty’), Iceland (‘You are the same as Greenland, right? Don’t speak; just give me your land’), Venezuela (‘Give me your oil… Oh, you won’t? Then I’ll hide behind this drug-trafficking accusation and ‘kidnap’ your President instead’), Panama (‘Give me the Panama Canal’), Canada (‘You also; give me your sovereignty!’), NATO (‘Hand over your fullest allegiance to my boorish spree’), the UN (make the world even more unbalanced than it has always been for us, the imperial West), etc. to his handling of his own citizenry and international institutions – from the Federal Reserve (‘Powell be damned for not yielding to my demands that interest rates be lowered’), to the Justice Department, political opponents and party members alike, governors such as California’s Gavin Newsom on the matter of immigration, crime, redistricting, and even to academic institutions (case in point, Harvard University)… Brutish, boorish tactics rivalled only by his country and its allies – rivalled only by historic and contemporary USA, UK, France – much of the rest of the West in fact – in their relationship with us, countries of the Global South. This ‘gimme, gimme’ energy... C’mon. Let us not act like all this – this bullyish bargaining, this brinkmanship disguising as mutual cooperation, often veiled with the halo that is the ‘negotiating table’ – is peculiar to Trump, and not right on-brand for the Global North.

When Prof. Boateng writes in this book that negotiation is not only an important tool for the success of businesses but of societies and nations too, it is not to be taken lightly. Negotiation is as vital a skillset for governing businesses as it is for governing nations. And in the case of Trump – Mr-the-deal-with-Iran-is-off-today, Mr-the-deal-with-Iran-is-back-on – we see how fatal this flawed perception of negotiation can be, for in his case, it has been allowed to – with his election to the position of leader of the so-called ‘free world’ – travel from the corporate level, all the way up to the national and international stage. In the case of our own country and continent, we have an endless list of historic and contemporary experiences pointing to how fatal this flawed conception of negotiation can be, and I will get to that in a minute – for Prof. Boateng brilliantly touches on that too.

Negotiation, Prof. Boateng notes, often involves compromising, trading, minimising conflicting and competing wants and needs to ensure the best possible outcomes for parties. While bargaining focuses on short-term returns, negotiation focuses on creating long-term value, arriving at win-win outcomes, and building long-term relationships. “Excellent negotiation skills not only influence the outcome of individual transactions, but also relationships with various stakeholders and business associates.” Prof writes. Essentially, negotiation is not only about prices but ultimately about relationships. Bargaining, on the other hand, he writes, “tends to focus on short-term price chiselling” and being proven right. Its central focus is winning, hence ends up creating win-lose situations. In bargaining, persons are competitors; in negotiation, they are collaborators.

And this matter of short-termism, I must say, it is one of the most tragic of circumstances. Why? Because bargainers, they tend to be like the anecdotal so-called village man who was caught by a city folk looking at a billboard – for free. We are told that this village man was informed by this city dweller that such sightings come with a charge – so he charged this village friend of ours. And this village friend of ours, quite the skilled bargainer, was able to beat the price down – and ever so conceitedly patted himself on the back, indicating how he had so brilliantly bested the urbanite on the price. GHC50 to watch a billboard? Pfft! He got it for GHC20 only! “Ah, these clueless, clueless city folks.”

And therein lies the tragedy endemic to bargainers – Prof shows. Bargainers are short-term thinkers. Even more tragically, they tend to be this way because they often do not know or appreciate their value or the actual worth of that which they hold. They tend to be oblivious to all the facts – they often cannot see farther than the stretch of their tummies or immediate desires. They are unable to project into the future to see how their present situation or assets can transform or multiply manifold, generating much more valuable outcomes. Hence, they often end up selling themselves short. It takes one who does not know the value of that which they hold to pursue short-term gains. Short-term thinking in negotiation leads one to cheat their own selves – shooting themselves in the foot. Bargainers, they tend to lack foresight.

And you know what is worse than a bargainer who is blind? One who is cunning.

Tragically, this is where one cannot help but find our own country and continent sticking out like a sore thumb.

Firstly, this lack of understanding is one of the undeniable factors causing this bargaining stance often witnessed in the country and continent. Prof. Boateng, in this book, cites a particular study his organisation, PanAvest International and Partners, undertook involving direct-level executives in both the public and private sectors, which showed 66% of these C-suite executives confusing bargaining with negotiation, and 84% of chief executives of public sector entities also confusing the two terms. This is what Prof terms ‘unconscious bargaining’ – instances where persons, thinking themselves engaged in the act of effective negotiations, are, in fact, engaged in bad negotiations: in bargaining. And this endemic lack of understanding on the differences existing between negotiation and bargaining in Africa – Prof. Boateng indicates – continues to hamper the sustainability, competitiveness and growth of local businesses, and organisational value chain performance. It negatively impacts socio-economic development and the broader region-wide service delivery and prosperity.

Secondly, there is also the problem of ‘desire’ – a desire for short-term, selfish gains, not the common good. Herein lies the willingly deceitful. On the national and geopolitical scale, they come in the form of the petty bourgeoisie – the Quisling, the Uncle Tom – sacrificing sustainable, long-term national prosperity for short-term transient individual wants... Sacrificing their country and continent’s chance at true economic liberation and prosperity – a chance to finally have an equal and respectable place on the global plane… A place where international trade is truly and substantively mutually beneficial, where international investment regimes secure and safeguard the substantive economic liberation of these previously colonised nations… On the Biblical front, the Judas – sacrificing God for gold (my bad, silver); eternal salvation for the quick buck – eternal damnation. On the corporate level it is the executive management – e.g., the CEO – inspired only by hyper-self-interest and managerial opportunism, to the woeful detriment of employees.

I tell you, your mind will not be able to stay in one place, reading this book. For negotiation cannot be contained. It glides through all aspects of the human experience – big or small.

The Types of Negotiation Outcomes

Reading this book, you leave with an intimate understanding of the different types of outcomes to expect in any negotiation. There is the win-win outcome – Prof. Boateng writes – where both sides leave with a feeling – and truly so – of having won. [Mind you, this is unlike the case of our anecdotal village man whose sense of victory was, in actuality, ill-placed]. This is the most equitable of outcomes; it is mutually beneficial. Parties leave happy, often with a desire to return; hence, oftentimes leading to the forging of long-term relationships. Prof highlights the advantages of this outcome and shows you how you may reach it. I will leave you to read on the other types of negotiation outcomes for yourself – i.e., win-lose, lose-lose, and lose-win (the bit about ‘passive negotiators’ Prof. Boateng highlights here is particularly striking).

Although in many cases, win-win outcomes are completely attainable, so-called negotiators make the mistake of going to the negotiating table with a bargaining mindset, approaching these matters as a zero-sum game; as a fixed pie – Prof writes… An undividable pie, if you will – even though human experience shows us that there is seldom such a thing as an ‘undividable pie’ – where you gaining a pie means me inevitably losing a pie; and not an outcome where these circular pies are cut into triangular pieces for us all to get our deserved shares. Realist legal scholars for instance, such as Eric Posner accuse countries (powerful countries especially) of this mindset when approaching the so-called mutually beneficial realm that is international law. The regime, he describes, does not involve nations engaged in seeking win-win outcomes as embodied in its numerous treaties and conventions; rather, it is a self-interested game where these countries are nothing but participants in a Prisoner’s Dilemma, on the constant look out for how to increase their outcomes and fortunes over others.

In fact, so intense can this desire to derive win-lose outcomes be that in some situations persons can walk out of a deal with an actual win-win outcome, yet go about spreading lies about having managed to secure for themselves a win-lose outcome – with them being the winner. Let me bring this home: you know that person in your life – at work, home, within your family, or social circles – who always lies about how incredibly cheap they got such and such item in the market when in fact they paid a fair price for that item… And sometimes they take it a step further. After you have procured an item at a particular price, they upon finding out the price you bought it at, come at you with this lie: “Ah! You’ve been cheated. I recently got this same thing for half the price.” Brother, you mean to tell me you bought a new MacBook (16-inch, M5 Pro) at GHC14,000? Where? What’s all that about?!

Before we get to your BATNAS, WATNAS, ZOPAS

Before we get to the matters of BATNAs, WATNAs, and ZOPAs, how about you and I negotiate a postponement right now? I realise that I am getting carried away. There is still a lot more to be discussed – for instance, after discussing the BATNAs, WATNAs, and ZOPAs, I would very much like to zoom right into the other crucial matters Prof Boateng examines in this book such as the tool that is ‘compromise’, the impact culture has on negotiations, the different classs of negotiations, how one can become a good negotiator, etc., all of which cannot be squeezed into one sitting. So let us continue another time. But by heavens, I would be damned if I do not declare this right here, right now: on the matter of my misplaced aggression towards the concept of ‘negotiation’ when it should be towards bargaining, brothers and sisters, I am effectively and utterly healed.

Author’s Profile:
Makafui Aikins
Strategy, governance, and organisational transformation consultant, international law scholar, writer, and Co-founder & CEO of Nvame, a premier African consultancy and publication firm.

makafuiaikins1@gmail.com

www.nvame.com

LinkedIn: Kafui Akutor (Makafui Aikins)

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