Written by Wayne Davis for the Harvard Negotiation Project

Working Assumption: When negotiating, we can often best meet our interests by thinking of ourselves as joint problem-solvers working side-by-side with the other party.

1. Some possible roles. Negotiators tend to see their roles in several characteristic ways. Among the most common are:

	the "competitive sportsman" whose responsibility is to win;
	the "defender" whose responsibility is to protect against loss; and
	the "problem-solver" whose responsibility is to work together with the other side to find a solution.

None of these is "right" or "wrong," but each may be more or less effective for achieving our goals.

2. What's our purpose? What outcomes do we want our role to achieve? In searching for answers to these questions, we may begin with the most restrictive assumption about a negotiator's goals: that the sole goal is to serve our side's interests well. If the best way to serve our interests is to do something ourselves -- without benefitting from the agreement of anyone else -- then we should do so. We don't need to negotiate. However, if we might do better by some joint decision and action with others, then negotiation is appropriate. And once we begin to negotiate, we cannot hope for the other side's agreement unless at least some of their legitimate interests are met. Soviet President Gorbachev recognized this point when he stated:*

"Negotiations are always a subtle matter, not simple. The main thing here is to conduct the affair to a mutually acceptable balance of interests."

3. Which process best suits our purpose? In a complex world of often-conflicting interests, the challenge for the negotiator is how to create a process likely to produce a mutually acceptable balance of interests. Research indicates that negotiators are more likely to create such a process when they:

	Know their alternatives to negotiation;
	Look beyond the positions of the parties for their underlying interests;
	Try to invent many options for mutual gain, before committing to any one option;
	Search for standards of legitimacy by which to evaluate the options;
	Make clear, careful commitments at the end of the process;
	Maintain clear, effective two-way communication; and
	Try to build a good working relationship.

4. Which role best suits this process? Both the "sportsman" trying to win and the "defender" trying to avoid loss view negotiation in terms of conflicting positions, where a "win" for one necessitates a "loss" for the other. By assuming the choice is between winning and losing, they are less likely to see where their interests may be shared or parallel, less likely to behave in ways that promote the complex set of characteristics needed to balance interests and, therefore, less likely to achieve their purpose.

By contrast, negotiators who say, "We are problem-solvers" recognize the complexity and difficulty of managing the negotiation process. Such negotiators are more likely to adopt procedures and techniques that produce good outcomes in complex situations.

* Mikhail Gorbachev, Materily 27 s'ezda Kommunisticheskaya partii Sovetskogo soiuza, p.66