The strategy of breakthrough negotiations

The former president Jimmy

(Getting Carter
past no, wrote about this
negotiating book: Bill
in difficult Ury has by
situations a remarkable ability to
William Ury)
get to the heart of a dispute and find simple but innovative ways to resolve it.

” Getting past no “was written in response to the readers of “getting to yes” who wanted to know, what should
they do when they wanted to get to yes, but the other parties say no, and how to get the others to cooperate .

William Ury, wrote another book titled “the power of a positive no” about the crucial art of delivering a positive
No,
The focus of the Power of a positive No is on learning how to assert and defend your interests
The book “Getting past No”, is divided into three parts:
-getting ready,
-using the breakthrough strategy,
-and turning adversaries into partners.

• We have already dealt with the preparation aspect of the negotiations in the presentation about “Negotiation as the
main tool of diplomacy”.
• This presentation will be limited to how to use the breakthrough strategy in dealing with difficult discussions,
negotiations, and difficult people.
• The “joint problem solving” recommended by the principled strategy, can be successful as it can encounter
difficulties and barriers in the way of the cooperation needed to succeed.
• William Ury identified ,in his book getting past no , five barriers to cooperation:
- your reaction,
- their emotions,
- their position,
- their dissatisfaction,
- and their power.
• He proposed a five-step strategy for dealing with these obstacles to cooperation: Do not react and go the balcony, 2-
Change the game by going to their side, 3-Do not reject and reframe, 4-Do not push them and make it easy for
them to say yes ,5-Make it hard for them to say no by using your power
 The essence of the breakthrough strategy is indirect action
• 1 Don’t React: GO TO THE BALCONY .
The first barrier to cooperation may be your natural reaction, the first step should be to suspend this
reaction and “Go to the balcony” , in other terms ,to step back from the difficult situation.
There are three Natural Reactions:
- Striking Back This strategy may lead you to a confrontation .
- Giving In, leads normally to an unsatisfactory outcome and may give you a reputation for weakness
- Breaking Off. It may be a perfectly appropriate strategy, as it could be a hasty reaction that we may regret
later.
The risks of Reacting naturally in difficult situations:
- we may lose our objectivity
- and as a consequence, lose sight of our interests .
- Reacting usually feeds, the unproductive cycle of action, and reaction.
William Ury recommends going to the Balcony instead of reacting naturally and take our decision on the
balcony
 Going to the Balcony.

• The “balcony” is a metaphor for a mental attitude of detachment. From the balcony you can calmly
evaluate the situation almost as if you were a third party.

• It means distancing yourself from your natural impulses and emotions.

• It means to step back and try to see the situation objectively.

• In the balcony you should think about your interests, those of the other parties and about your BATNA.

• How to find time go the balcony and think there about these three elements?

-we should Name the Game by recognizing the situation or the tactic ,
-we should be aware of our natural emotional reactions: hot buttons
- Buy Time to go the balcony and Think
- avoid making Important Decisions on the Spot.
 1- Name the Game or the tactics (of the other party) and recognizing the situation .

• Recognize the tactic, because when you recognize it, you will be on your guard.
• Tactics can be grouped into three categories, depending on whether they are obstructive, offensive, or
deceptive :Stone walls, Endless foot-dragging, Intimidation and threatening .
1-A stone-wall tactic is a refusal to change a position, insistence on a position as it is usually the case in
positional negotiations. The other sides show no flexibility and believe that there is no choice other than their
position.
2-Delays, postponing discussions, or decision making for different reasons.
3-Intimidation and threatening of the consequences of not accepting their proposals or even the use of
misleading information or figures or last-minute demand.

•The answer to all these tactics is first to recognize them. For Example, if you recognize the other side’s tactic
as a stone wall, you will be less likely to believe that they are inflexible.in the case of threats, they should
be tested or just ignored.

• The most difficult and hardest tactics to recognize are lies

• being alert should not lead you to be overly suspicious. Keep in mind that any tactic is a possibility, not a
certainty.
 2-Know our Hot Buttons (be aware of our reactions )

• A good negotiator should know :

-what the other parties are trying to achieve through some tactics,
-as well as his natural emotional reactions or what we call his hot buttons (cordes sensibles).

• Example :some people are worried the others won’t like them. Others don’t like any criticism or can’t stand
to have our ideas rejected.

• The other parties may try to play on your anger, fear, and guilt to make you lose control of your emotions,
sometimes even by verbal attacks.”

• If we are aware of these emotional susceptibilities, or “hot buttons”, we can more easily recognize when
any opponent is pushing them. This in turn allows us to control our natural reaction .

• To go to the balcony and think before reacting to any tactic or negative position, we need to find some
time. How to do it?
 3-Buy Time to Think
1-Pause and Say Nothing. The simplest way to buy time to think in the middle of a tense negotiation is to pause
and say nothing.
Pausing will not only give you a chance to step up to the balcony for a few seconds, but it may also help the other
side cool down
2-Rewind the Tape. it means reviewing the discussion to show the other parties that you did not miss any
important element of the discussion.
The same purpose can be achieved through asking questions such as:
“I’m sorry, I missed that. Could you please repeat it? Or “I’m not sure I’m following you. “Could you please say it
again? Or “Let me make sure I understand what you’re saying. “And you formulate the situation as you understand
it and ask for corrections from the other sides.(Exple. UN)
3-Take a Time-out. natural excuse could be a short pause such as :
a coffee break,
call a caucus with your negotiating team, use a story or joke to divert a tense negotiation

In conclusion, the most natural thing to do when faced with a difficult person or situation is to react.
-Don’t Make Important Decisions on the Spot under pressure and emotion. Go to the balcony and make it
there. Once you suspend your immediate reaction, you can consider calmly the decision in a more objective
fashion.
 2 -Don’t argue: disarm your opponents by stepping to their side

• Before discussing the problem with the other persons, you need to disarm them by diffusing their
emotions, because it difficult to reason with a person who is not receptive.
• Disarming the other side means defusing their hostile emotions and convincing them to hear what you
want to say, your point of view.
• The best way to diffuse their emotions is to surprise them by doing the opposite of what they expect. It is
difficult to attack someone who goes to your side.
• Stepping to their side means :
1- listening,
2-acknowledging what they say, and their emotions
3-and agreeing with them on whatever possible without making concessions :
 1-First, Listen Actively.
We know that everyone has a deep need to be heard and understood.by satisfying that need we can contribute
to the progress of a negotiation.
-Listening and understanding the others makes them more willing to listen to you.

-A good tactic to show that you are listening is to Paraphrase what has been said and ask for Corrections.
Paraphrasing means summing up your understanding of what the other side has said .
-Every human being, no matter how difficult he may be, has a deep need to be heard and understood.

2-Acknowledging the other person’s point of view does not mean that you agree with it. using phrases such as “I
know exactly what you mean” or “I understand very well what you’re saying”, don’t convey any consent or
agreement or commitment.
-Acknowledge The Feelings of the other negotiators. Don't ignore the other side’s emotions. Because behind their
attack often lies anger; behind their stonewalling often lies fear.
-The most powerful form of acknowledgment could be an apology.
3-Agree wherever possible with the other negotiator. Agree Without Conceding :focus on issues on which
there is no disagreement :Example of An American senator who told his legislative staff to avoid arguing
with the constituents, even if they’re wrong.
-Look for occasions when you can say yes to them without making a concession
--Build a Working Relationship before the negotiation begins.
-The last element is to Express Your Views
 3 Don’t Reject, Reframe

• After creating a favorable climate for negotiation, the next challenge is to change the game from
confrontation to problem solving.
1-To Change the Game, Change the Frame: Reframing means redirecting the other side’s attention away
from positions toward the task of identifying interests, inventing creative options, and discussing fair
standards for selecting an option.
Example: In 1979, the SALT II arms-control treaty (Treaty Between the United States of America and
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics on the Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms (SALT II) :Instead
of rejecting Gromyko’s position, which would have led to an argument over positions, Biden acted as if
Gromyko were interested in problem-solving and asked for his advice.
2-Ask Problem-Solving Questions. Asking problem solving question is one of the very important tools for
reframing a positional discussion to a problem solving.
A problem-solving question should focus attention on the interests of each side, the options for satisfying
them, and the standards of fairness for resolving differences.
The most useful questions are: why, why not, what if asking for their advice, “What Makes That Fair?”
Make Your Questions Open-Ended.
3-Reframe Tactics . For Example, go around Stone Walls by ignoring them,
Reframe from past wrongs to future remedies. Instead of who was wrong we can think about what can be
done about the problem. When an opponent criticizes you for a past incident, you can ask, “How do we make
sure it never happens again?”
 4 Don’t push them : Build them a golden bridge
“Build your opponent a golden bridge to retreat across.” —Sun Tzu

• Even, after you have suspended your reactions, defused the emotions of the other side, and reframed their
position to joint problem solving they may for some reasons refuse to agree.

• The reasons may be overlooked interests, Fear of losing face or the suspicion born of the fact that they were
not associated to the process which led to the proposal.

•Instead of starting from where you are, which everyone’s natural instinct is, start from where the other parties
are and try to guide them toward an eventual agreement. It means building them a golden bridge to retreat
across .

•It means actively involving them in devising a solution so that it becomes their idea,
•It means satisfying their unmet interests
•It means helping them save face
•it means making the process of negotiation as easy as possible.
 5 don’t escalate: Use your power to educate.
• The last barrier to “break through” may be the use of power by the other parties , because they believe
that they can dominate the negotiation and impose their position.
• Normally, the goal shifts from the search of mutual satisfaction to the search of victory.
• when you threaten or try to coerce the other side, usually they resist and/or fight back, and the result
may be a lose-lose outcome, and the deterioration of relationship.
• The great Chinese strategist Sun Tzu wrote: “To subdue (conquer or defeat) the enemy without fighting
is the acme (top) of skill “.
• The lesson is that power should be constructively rather than destructively in other words it should tend
to educate the other party about the consequences of ending the negotiations without an agreement.
• If they believe they can win because their best alternative to negotiation—their BATNA—is superior to
the golden bridge, you should Ask them Reality-Testing Questions such as: “What do you think will
happen if we don’t agree?” “What will the costs be if we can’t reach agreement?” “What do you think I
will do?”
• Warn, Don’t Threaten.
• Demonstrate Your BATNA
• Deploy Your BATNA without Provoking