Techniques for enhancing creative negotiation agreements

a.) Feedback
In negotiation training programs, an immediate feedback is crucial to improve
and enhance negotiators ability to reach creative negotiation agreements. An
effective feedback should be specific (actionable feedback), timely (immediate
feedback) and consistent (accurate and trustworthy feedback). There are two type
types of information need to analyse in feedback: other partys priorities among the
issues in negotiation and how much other gained for a particular offer.
Positive
Ability (Skilled)

Negative

Feedback

Ability (Unskilled)

Positive

Negative

Ethicality (Ethical)

Ethicality (Unethical)

Diagram 1: Types of feedback

b.) Brainstorming
According to Osborn (1963), brainstorming is a group creativity technique
where effort are made to find a conclusion for a specific problem by gathering all the
ideas contributed by a group of people. In a study, a group using brainstorming
technique able to produce 44% more worthwhile ideas than individual self- thinking
ideas. There are four rules in brainstorming: expressiveness (freely to contribute
ideas in free-wheeling rotation), non-evaluation (criticise other ideas are prohibited),
quantity (more ideas ensure ideas quality) and building (get better ideas by modify
other ideas).
c.) Negotiation skills training
Through training, negotiator able to gain experience on real-life negotiation
situation, reflect the process or result of negotiation and improve their performances
by referring to the feedback. Remember practise make perfect, those who engaged
in several negotiation are more likely to reach integrative agreement than those had
less experience in negotiation.

d.) Rational problem-solving model

Understand the problem- Ask yourself about: What is known and unknown?
What are the information I am using? What are my assumption?
Devising a plan- By using past experience, by referring others solution on
similar problem or restate the problem and list out the possible solution.
Carrying out the plan- Make the plan actionable and test it.
Locking back- What are the main key takeaway the negotiation? Is there other
ways to solve the problem?
Diagram 2: Steps of rational problem-solving model
e.) Deductive reasoning
It is a process of drawing logical conclusions based on the consonance of
multiple postulation that generally assumed to be true. People called this reasoning
as top-down approach. For example, all men are mortal. John is man, so John is
mortal.
Theory

Hypothesis

Observation

Confirmation

Diagram 3: Flows of deductive reasoning

There are some of violation in the rules of logic: agreement with a conclusion
which people valid the conclusion they agree with and judge conclusion that
disagree as invalid, cognitive consistency which people will interpret information in
the way consistent with information that they already know and confirmation bias
which people interpret information in a way that confirm with their assumption, belief
or hypothesis.
f.) Analogical training
Diverse analogical training (learners compared two cases with different valuecreating strategies) allow negotiator learned greater value-creating principles than
specific analogical training (learners compared two cases with same strategy). This

is because negotiators involve in deep level comparison are more likely to reach an
optimal win-win situation in a subsequent situation. Thus, creating greater trust
between parties.
g.) Inductive reasoning
Inductive reasoning is opposed to deductive reasoning where it is a form of
hypothesis testing or trial and error. People call this reasoning as bottom up
approach.
Observation

Pattern

Tentative Hypothesis

Theory

Diagram 4: Flow of inductive reasoning

Inductive reasoning also can be explained as reasoning that make a broader
generalization on specific information and allowed the fact that make the conclusion
may not accurate. For example, an international student come from U.S join 22C
group, she has blond hair, so 22C students assumed that all U.S people is blond.
h.) Incubation
Preparation - Understand and defines the problem.
- Gather data and make preliminary attempts to reach solution.

Incubation- If the preliminary attempts to solve the problem meet the obstacle,
we should take a break or put the problem aside which is beneficial
to negotiators in reaching high quality agreement.

Diagram 5:

Verification
to check
the solution
it work.
Illumination -- Need
The key
to a solution
often whether
happen at
the unexpected moment.

Step of
incubation
i.) Counterfactual reflection

It refer to process thinking about past experiences. According to Markman

(2007), addictive counterfactuals (e.g., if only I had) are more likely to enhance
creativity on tasks than subtractive counterfactuals (e.g., if only I had not).
j.) Learning versus performance goals
Negotiator who has learning goals are more likely to reach agreement than
negotiator who has performances goals because they are more focus on task
strategies rather than outcomes, cooperative, understand counterpartys interest and
reach integrative agreement.
Conclusion
Before we can make creative agreement in negotiation, we need to be
creative in thinking .We must be able to view things from different perspective and
also able to generate new ideas or recognise new possibilities and alternatives.
Negotiators mental model of negotiation determine our creativity in thinking. Five
common mental models include haggling, cost-benefit analysis, game playing,
partnership and problem solving.
Characteristic of truly creative negotiations includes able to fractionate single
issues negotiation into multiple issues, finding differences by looking pattern in offer,
expanding the pie, bridging, cost cutting, non-specific compensation and structuring
contingencies. For the beginner, they may feel hard to achieve any one of the
characteristic above because lack of experience or knowledge. However, they still
can make it by gaining the experience because practise make prefect.
People will face challenges and obstacles in achieve creative negotiation such
as inert knowledge problem, availability heuristic, representativeness, anchoring and
adjustment, unwarranted causation, belief perseverance, illusory correlation, just
world, hindsight bias, functional fixedness,

set effect, selective

attention,

overconfidence and limits of short term memory. Negotiator must be aware any one
of the obstacle and solve them by using creative thinking.
If negotiator feel that his or her is lack of creativity in negotiation, they still can
improve and enhance their skills by using some techniques such as negotiation skills
training, analogical training, counterfactual reflection, incubation, feedback, learning
versus performances goals, brainstorming, rational problem solving model, deductive

reasoning and inductive reasoning. There are many techniques that we can use but
we must seek the strategies that are most suitable to us.

Osborn, A.F. (1963). Applied imagination: Principles and procedures of creative

problem solving (3rd ed.). New York, NY: Charles Scribners Sons.

Markman, K. D., Lindberg, M. J., Kray, L. J., & Galinsky, A. D. (2007). Implications of
counterfactual structure for creative generation and analytic problem solving.
Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 33, 312-324.