Negotiation on lgovea

The Plan Survives Until the Negotiation Starts

Tue, 27 Oct 2026 21:18:10 -0600

I just finished a multi-variable negotiation exercise in my negotiation course at Stanford LEAD. Classifying issues was the hard part. Congruent ones, where both sides want the same outcome. Distributive ones, pure zero-sum. Integrative ones, where different priorities create value neither side sees alone. I didn’t know my counterpart’s interests, so I was probing for information while sorting at the same time. Once something looked integrative, the instinct was to build on it. But asking invites giving. If you ask for something, your counterpart expects something back, and if you hand over too much information, they might piece together your reservation price without you ever stating it.

Why Arent You Negotiating

Tue, 13 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

I was on my way to my first negotiation assignment from my Stanford LEAD class about negotiation: start a negotiation in a place where negotiation is not expected. I’d never done something like this before.

I’d done the research. I knew the exact price, my alternatives, that no discounts were listed.

I arrived, walked the aisle, and stood in front of the salesperson. Simple ask: the item, plus a discount. The system did not allow a discount on that item. It was not that the salesperson did not want to help, there were other blockers around what I was asking for. We circled for a few minutes and got nowhere, then they offered something else, not a discount, but still useful to me. I raised my offer and asked for more.