Creative Conflict: A Practical Guide for Business Negotiators

by Bill Sanders, Frank Mobus

Overview

Negotiation is stuck. It's time for something new.

Almost everything is negotiable. Almost every interaction is a negotiation. And in no field is this clearer than in business, where every day we work with others to get things done. But when we have real differences, is win-win always possible? Or must every negotiation be a zero-sum battle, with a winner and a loser?

Over the last half century, two opposing philosophies have ruled the field of negotiation: the win-lose, tooth-and-nail approach of training guru Chester Karrass; and the win-win, "principled" creed of Getting to Yes, developed by Roger Fisher and William Ury. But neither approach fully meets the challenge of today's volatile, disruptive, ultracompetitive business environment, where strategic problem-solving is of critical importance.

In Creative Conflict, negotiation experts Bill Sanders and Frank Mobus provide something new. They use a dynamic, dialectical approach to show how negotiations are driven by competition and cooperation at the same time. Counterintuitively, they reveal that conflict lies at the heart of more profitable agreements. They believe that when we tiptoe around conflict, we negotiate in a half-hearted way that limits our results. By contrast, creative negotiators probe and push until they hit a wall of disagreement, and then they figure out how to get past it. The authors construct a clear and useful framework based on three distinct negotiating contexts: Bargaining, Creative Dealmaking, and Relationship Building. They instruct readers on how to skillfully pursue their fair share while simultaneously seeking ways to expand a deal's scope and value for both sides.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781633699496
Publisher:	Harvard Business Review Press
Publication date:	06/15/2021
Pages:	272
Sales rank:	1,083,777
Product dimensions:	6.30(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Bill Sanders is CEO of Mobus Creative Negotiating, a firm providing public seminars, private in-house corporate training, coaching, and consulting to Fortune 500 companies. Prior to Mobus, Sanders played a central role at Karrass, the twentieth-century gold standard for negotiation training. He received his doctorate in physical chemistry from the Pennsylvania State University.

Frank Mobus was founder of Mobus Creative Negotiating. Long recognized as one of the world's top authorities on business negotiating, he spearheaded the training seminar program at Karrass before founding his own firm, where he created the most advanced negotiating programs in the field. Mobus graduated from the University of California, Irvine, and earned his master's degree from New York University.

You can find more about the authors at:
Bill Sanders: linkedin.com/in/wrsanders
Frank Mobus: mobusinc.com/frank-mobus-and-the-mobus-creative-negotiating

Table of Contents

Preface: Frank Mobus's Fundamental Insight ix

Part 1 The Third Way

1 Negotiating a New Era 3

2 The Mobus Negotiating Continuum 19

3 Mental Models 31

Part 2 The Gamesman (Bargaining)

4 Overcoming Our Fears 47

5 Bargaining Strategies 59

6 Bargaining Tactics 83

7 Drawing a Map: Advanced Bargaining in Three Acts 105

Part 3 The Trader (Creative Dealmaking)

8 Moving around the Table 119

9 Creative Dealmaking: Strategies and Tactics 133

Part 4 The Partner (Relationship Building)

10 Joining Forces 155

11 The Sole Source 173

12 Team Negotiations 187

13 Internal Negotiations 201

Afterword: Thinking Like a Negotiator 223

Notes 227

Index 233

Acknowledgments 245

About the Authors 247

Editorial Reviews

Advance Praise for Creative Conflict:

"Creative Conflict takes us down a negotiation road less traveled. Whether you're just starting out in business or an experienced executive, applying this practical guide can transform your negotiation results and provide your business a significant competitive advantage." — Howard Levy, Vice President, Global Sourcing, Zimmer Biomet

"Creative Conflict takes on the challenge of making a deal where no deal exists. Bill Sanders and Frank Mobus successfully move the immovable negotiation by developing a multidiscipline, multidimensional approach and providing tools and examples to the reader that can create success almost immediately." — Paul Koch, Vice President of Estimating, Skanska USA

"During thirty-five years in the coaching profession at all levels of football competition, I gradually learned how valuable it was to build trusting relationships through effective and sincere negotiating practices. I wish I'd had Creative Conflict early in my career. Great book!" — Dick Vermeil, NFL Coach of the Year (1999)

"Creative Conflict explains the evolution and the psychology of negotiation in a way that will empower you with the skills to reach better outcomes. This is the best single book I have read on the topic. A must-read." — Ron Fleisher, coach, Vistage

"Sanders and Mobus highlight important and useful concepts for deploying negotiation strategies. Our North American sales team completed the Creative Negotiation seminar, and it was very impactful to our business success." — John Kowal, President, Varian Medical Systems, Americas

"Creative Conflict will refocus your thinking from negotiating better to negotiating smarter. An important addition to the negotiation literature." — Ed Brodow, author, Negotiation Bootcamp

From the Publisher