The Law To Know

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The Numbers Behind a Negotiation: A Living Map

Every negotiation rests on a few numbers. Your best alternative to a deal sets your lowest acceptable deal; the other side has the same, but you can only estimate it. Where the two limits overlap there is a zone of possible agreement. Targets and first offers open the bargaining inside it, concessions move the sides toward each other and trades across issues enlarge the value before it is divided. Press Play to watch the map build, click an idea for its definition and trap, or trace a case. It is a teaching map with invented figures.

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Hover over an idea to light up what it connects to, click it for its definition, minimum requirements, an example and the usual trap, press Play to watch the map build step by step, or trace a short case through it.

Simplified teaching map, in general terms. Check the law where you work. On a small screen, scroll the map sideways.

Learn it properly

The full lecture, exercises and quiz behind this map are in Negotiation Analytics: Why Put Numbers on a Negotiation, and that module is free to read.

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