Prime your pump with daily bargaining.
7/7/2003
Folks bargain all the time. Most of the time they aren't even aware of it, say the authors. Here's how to get beneath the surface of the "shadow negotiation"what the authors dub the rich stew of emotions that underlies most bargain making, whether those bargains consist of striking a deal with a vendor, gunning for a raise, or coming to an agreement with family members about which TV show to watch at home. Typical pitfalls they see, for example, include missed opportunities, distaste for the basic process, undermining your best interests, overconfidence, making sure "everyone is happy," and confusing toughness with effectiveness. Both authors bring professional negotiation experience to the table. Kolb is a professor of management at Simmons School of Management; Williams co-founded a Web-based training program for women negotiators. This is a slightly reworked second edition of their previous book, The Shadow Negotiation: How Women Can Master the Hidden Agendas that Determine Bargaining Success, which was named by Harvard Business Review as one of the top ten business books of 2000. (By "reworked," we mean that they've added male viewpoints on bargaining and changed the title. It's still good.)