Although everyone has negotiated, not everyone has been trained in negotiation styles. It is easy to miss the underlying style and its implication. Consider the following chart.
Win-Win Collaborators
These are the individuals that want what is in the best interest of both parties. Paramount to the decision is to improve both parties position and to preserve the relationship of both parties (or their stakeholders).
Win-lose Bullies
This is when one party to the negotiation has a distinct advantage in the negotiation and has no problem with taking advantage of the other party. This is best used when the 2 parties will never negotiate again in the future because one party (and their stakeholders) will lose and reflect negatively on the "winner".
Lose-win Doormats
Doormats will make unilateral concessions to appease the other party at all costs (even to their personal detriment). The most daily example of this are the caring mothers across the world who place the needs of their children above their own needs.
Lose-Lose Politicians
Politicians are most interested in reaching agreement. However, they will reach agreement to the detriment of both parties. They are not interested in results, they are interested in touting that an agreement has been achieved.
This brings us to the lessons for today. Our politicians have exhibited two of the profiles above as they relate to the recession.
1) When TARP was passed, the politicians were acting in the lose-lose mode. They made an agreement when many of them never read the document. By the way if any management team or their Board of Directors passed significant policy statements without reading, they should be terminated.
2) Just today we saw the evidence of the Win-Lose Style in "Health care legislation back behind closed doors" (Oct 14, 7:54 AM (ET) By RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR)
There was no victory lap either for Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus of Montana. "The bottom line here is we need a final bill, a merged bill, that gets 60 votes," he said. "Our goal is to pass health care reform, not just talk about it."
The goal for Max is to pass health care reform. The Democrats will do whatever it takes.
All of our representatives should be operating in the Win-Win box. When they spend most of their time in either the bully or politician styles of negotiation the agreements achieved are not in the best interests of our country at large.
© 2009 Jim Lindell
www.thorstenconsulting.com