From time to time I have to deal with someone who appears to be completely irrational. Or are they just playing tough?
What's the best approach for someone like that?
In this article, Lawrence Susskind suggests the following possibilities:
1. Your negotiating partner is perfectly rational; it's just that you don't understand how the world looks to him. Try asking directly what problem your new partner is trying to solve.
2. Your partner is perfectly rational but has adopted a seemingly irrational stance as part of his hard bargaining strategy. He may just be pushing to see what he can get away with. If you don't push back, he'll keep "claiming" even more.
3. Your partner really is irrational. All rules of normal discourse go out the window. You're convinced that you are dealing with a truly irrational negotiating partner,
someone willing to risk everything to make sure you get nothing. What can you do?
The article discusses a hypothetical situation and suggests a solution.
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