Bargaining for Advantage December 1, 2006
Posted by The Probabilist in : [Books], Business, Communication, Goals, Personal Growth, Politics, Relationships, Abilities, Investing, Leadership, Speaking , 1 comment so far
G. Richard Shell, the author of this book catches your attention by stating that we all negotiate every day with all people we’re in contact with. He offers not only valid principles on the different stages and courses of action during a negotiation, but also many practical real examples where they were used. Among the examples are how Donald Trump, Benjamin Franklin, Mahatma Gandhi, Akio Morita and J. P. Morgan handled different situations to their advantage.
The first part of Bargaining for Advantage describes the six foundations of effective negotiating - your style of negotiation, your goals and expectations, authoritative principles and norms, relations, the other party’s interests and influence. It’s all about equipping the reader with improved ability to prepare oneself for bargaining situations. As I mentioned earlier, you can’t achieve more or perform better than you’re aware of being possible.
The second part then splits the negotiation into four distinct phases or processes - preparation, trading information, openings and concessions as well as closure and carrying out. This is where the six foundations are of practical importance to help you keep your edge at all times. Additionally he touches upon ethical standpoints when negotiating and separating between three sets of rules of what’s morally acceptable to say and not say.
The only thing I found missing, which is an important part of negotiations is what’s considered as true and what’s not. There are moments when two sides simply can’t come to an agreement of what is fact and what is opinion and how valid and accurate they are and to whom. I read this book in Swedish for a course I’m taking. Even though I’m not currently in a life situation where negotiations are a significant part of adding more value, I still found Bargaining for Advantage a worthwhile read. At least I know where to re-discover great answers once the stakes are getting higher.
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Festive Seminar November 9, 2006
Posted by The Probabilist in : [News], Communication, Financial Literacy, Society, Politics, Studies, Speaking , 2 comments
I had the privilege of listening to the speeches of three great individuals today at the 180th year anniversary of a local bank that cooperates with the University I’m studying at. I wrote down many pointers on what they considered to be important in today’s global development, but I’ll only present the key information they wanted to emphasize.
Sweden’s former prime minister Göran Persson started by speaking about Scandinavia’s role and progress as a part of the EU. He expressed his concern about the culmination of global warming, energy price changes and the trade relationship with Russia. He also touched upon the need of alternative energy resources, EU’s process of expanding, The need for UN to get involved in the Iraq question and the risks of having today’s positive prosperity in Scandinavia. The substance in his speech didn’t offer much new information, but I found him to be a great speaker.
George Soros, Chairman of Soros Fund Management and Open Society Institute followed by sharing his view on Europe’s role in the world. He noted the problems USA is facing with its housing boom and the lost influence resulted by the war on terrorism. Funny how he didn’t mention the budget and trade deficits as well. Anyway, as he stated that the world order is gradually leading to world disorder he emphasized the importance of Europe to re-energize and strengthen its open society structure, which was a driving force in the creation of the EU. Being at the age of 76 and giving a speech without notes was worth a round of applause alone.
Last up was Sixten Korkman, CEO of ETLA giving a speech in Finnish about the future of the euro and the European Monetary Union. He pointed out the incongruence of development between the countries in the EU and if Italy is allowed or should leave the EU. Additionally he spoke about the lost focus in the Lisbon process and conflicts that the euro is going through. At times I had trouble keeping up with his thoughts, but he landed a couple of great jokes now and then.
It’s a strange coincidence that on the same week I happened to see a poster on the wall about the Helsinki toastmasters club and I actually didn’t know about this organization until a couple of weeks ago. I’ll probably go pay them a visit before the year ends, see what it’s like and find out what kind of speeches they give. It truly is a skill sharing your thoughts in a welcomed way and is definitely worth practicing.
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