Big idea #1 – Negotiation is not a game. From The Complete Negotiator, Gerard I. Nierenberg

Negotiation has often been compared to a game, A game has definite rules and a known set of values. Each player is limited in the moves one can make, the things one can and cannot do. In games, the rules show the risks and rewards.” Nierenberg, goes on to describe the competitive nature of a game where there is only ONE winner and ONE loser, raising the question of what if we negotiate as we play a game, will this serve anyone of the negotiating parties' interests? This is Nierenberg’s answer “In negotiating, any risks that are known have been learned from broad experience, not from a rule book. In a life situation, the negotiator ordinarily has little or no control over the complex variables… To look upon negotiation as a game to be played is to enter into the bargaining in a purely competitive spirit” this very clear approach takes us to the underlying theme of Nierenberg’s negotiation approach “Think of negotiation as a cooperative enterprise. If both parties enter the situation on a cooperative basis, there is a strong likelihood that they will be persuaded to strive for goals that can be shared equally. This does not mean that every goal will be of the same value to the participants. But it does mean that there is a greater possibility for each participant to reach successful cooperative goals.