Harnessing the Value of Shared Effort

In this video I explain how the Positive Negotiation method seeks to harness the good work and motivation of all parties to a dispute toward a shared objective. This encourages shared effort toward a shared solution.

Video Transcript

A common refrain at mediations is success involves everyone leaving a little disappointed.  Now there are reasons why people say this, so it is not an unreasonable statement to make, but can we do better than that?  

I think we can.  I also think it is really important that we do do better than that.  

And here is why.

We would surely all appreciate each other, and the country we live in, much more if we all believe the way we resolve our disputes is respectful and principled, and we are all satisfied with the resolutions we reach.  And I am an optimist.  I think this is achievable, at least for a very large majority of people, and I don’t think we need to do much that is different to get there.  

So how do we get there?

Well, to begin with we need to move on from the misguided notion our legal system is an inherently adversarial process.  It is not.  It depends on advocacy, to be sure, relying on committed advocates to find, analyze, develop, and present the evidence that supports each party’s claims or defenses.  But advocates do not have to be adversaries, and how often does being adversarial really result in good advocacy? 

But here are two things that are true:

First, all good resolutions are the product of good work - whether by the lawyers representing each of the parties, by any insurance professionals who may be involved, and by the parties themselves; and

Second, all these individuals do this good work because they all want to “get it right” - whether for themselves if they are a party, or for the individual or entity they represent if they are a lawyer or an adjuster. 

Now if we harness all that good work, and all that ambition to get it right, and guide it toward a shared objective, all those individuals will be more likely to work with each other to reach that objective, they are more likely to actually reach that objective, and because this is a joint effort they are all more likely to feel the “got it right.”  

This is how positive negotiations work.  They begin by accurately framing “The Problem” everyone faces as a shared problem.  Solving that shared problem then becomes a shared effort that can yield a shared solution that leaves no one feeling disappointed.

Just how we frame “The Problem” will be the topic of my next video.  

I look forward to seeing you then.