The Orange

I recently read this story about the two chefs who negotiated over one orange for their gourmet recipes. In the absence of agreement, they each settled on half an orange, as a compromise.

One chef used his half of the orange for juice for an incomplete recipe and the other chef the other half of the fruit for the orange rind for a fine marmalade that was insufficient, at best.

Thats the problem.
When we negotiate, we stick to our position (the “what” we want) and ignore our interest (the “why” we want it).

If the two chefs had focused on their interests, as opposed to their positions, they would have ended up with the perfect amount of juice to make the perfect mimosas and the perfect amount of rind for the perfect marmalade.

We tend to defend our positions and tend not to listen — The biggest faux pas of the negotiation process. Focus on the “why,” and the recipe for success will be ideal.

Good negotiation is about listening and ensuring that everyone wins.