In recent years negotiation theorists have transformed our understanding of how to succeed in making a deal. Getting to Yes, published in 1981 by Roger Fisher and Bill Ury, has been translated into more than 30 languages and has sold millions of copies. The basic principles of their book – focusing on interests instead of positions, separating the people from the problem, using principled benchmarks for disputed issues, and identifying your best alternative to a negotiated deal – continue to guide thoughtful negotiators.
Have we similarly advanced in our understanding of why negotiations fail? Recent advances in behavioral economics, neuroscience, and cognitive psychology have opened the door to such understanding.
To be sure, negotiations sometimes fail because there’s simply not enough money on the table. But what about the negotiations where there’s a “zone of possible agreement”? What tanks those deals? The most common reasons why negotiations fail boil down to issues of trust and respect.
