Have you ever been asked to imagine during a negotiation or a mediation what the future will look like if you (1) settle the dispute under the terms being proposed; or (2) do not settle the dispute under the proposed (and/or different) terms? No doubt, your response assumes that your [Read More]
Very soon, it will be Thanksgiving. Reflecting on this, I decided to do some research and came upon an article printed last year in the Huffington Post about giving thanks. The article by Seth Borenstein of the Associated Press, entitled, "Why Giving Thanks Is Good for the Psyche" discusses the [Read More]
Often, in mediation, I suggest to a party that she look at the issue from the viewpoint of her adversary, i.e., the person sitting in the other room. I do this in an effort to have that party become more open in finding a solution to the dispute; to realize [Read More]
Two different blog posts on the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School's website suggests that mood and one's emotions play an important role in negotiations. If one negotiate while in a bad mood, chances are the negotiations will not turn out well. For this reason, we, intuitively, wait until [Read More]
The Harvard Law School Program On Negotiation issued a Special Report entitled "Crisis Communication! How to Avoid Being Held Hostage by Crisis Negotiations". (Crisis Communication ) While I am not a "crisis" negotiator per se although some of my litigation mediations may seem like it at times, this Special Report [Read More]
Once again, The Economist reported on another quirky study. In an article entitled "Tall dark and stable" in the psychology section of its July 14, 2012 edition, the author discusses how "wobbly furniture leads to a desire for emotional stability." Evidently, previous studies have shown that if one is given [Read More]
In its July 21, 2012 edition, The Economist (in an article entitled " 'Snot Fair") discusses a research project conducted by Dr. Nicola Raihani of University College, London and Katherine McAuliffe of Harvard recently published in Biology indicating that people will cry "foul" when they are taken advantage of or [Read More]
The business section of the Sunday (July 7, 2012) New York Times had an interesting article entitled "Don't Indulge. Be Happy." by Elizabeth Dunn and Michael Norton. Ms. Dunn is an associate professor of psychology at the University of British Columbia while Mr. Norton is an associate professor of business [Read More]
