"Win in Negotiation: Learn to Negotiate by Watching Movies" course experience: See the world with the thinking of a master negotiator
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This article is written by 李世宝. Thank you for your permission to publish it. I would like to express my gratitude.
The reason why I took this class is that I happened to take the voice expression class of Chengyi Cultural Creation and Zheng Zhihao (Alex Cheng) teacher at the same time two years ago. At that time, I didn’t know who Mr. Alex was. I only knew that he was a corporate lecturer who taught negotiation. Later, after reading the blog article, I realized that Mr. Alex has rich career and negotiation experience.
The most impressive thing is that Mr. Alex defeated the master negotiators from various countries in the Harvard Negotiation Course and became the first place in the negotiation activity. In addition to negotiation and rich practical experience, I am also very curious about what a master negotiator usually thinks. I have also read several books recommended by blogs, such as “[FBI Negotiation Technique](https://www.books.com.tw/exep/assp.php/vista/products/0010725672?utm_source=vista&utm_medium=ap-books&utm_content=recommend&utm_campaign= ap-201708)”, “[Win-win negotiation techniques that let the other party benefit and make you happier](https://www.books.com.tw/exep/assp.php/vista/products/0010683692?ut m_source=vista&utm_medium=ap-books&utm_content=recommend&utm_campaign=ap-201708)》, etc., but I always feel that I am missing something and cannot grasp the key points. After reading a few articles about the “Win the Thinking Class by Talking” (http://www.yaoyuting.com/2017/06/blog-post_62.html), which describe the stressful environment and heavy pre-class homework, I would like to say that it is better to understand Mr. Alex’s teaching style first and not to jump into it rashly. “Learning to Negotiate by Watching Movies” The lecture title seemed to be relatively “moderate”, and it should not be beaten into a honeycomb without warning, so I signed up to participate.
The selected film for the course is Bridge of Spies. Set in 1960 during the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States, it tells the story of American lawyer Donald Trump’s efforts to negotiate the release of detained Soviet intelligence agents. There are many negotiation scenes in the beginning of the film. Teacher Alex introduced relevant negotiation concepts at the right time and explained the plot with negotiation thinking. Teacher Alex spoke vividly and interestingly, and explained the concepts very insightfully. During the explanation process, I was able to watch the film with a negotiation mindset without realizing it. If I watch this film without any narration, I will probably only pay attention to the story, or the more impressive and touching scenes. After teacher Alex explained, I began to notice some tiny details, such as who has the upper hand now, who is strong or weak, one party trying to influence the rhythm of the negotiation process, and thinking carefully about the reason why the negotiation is won because it is in line with interests or meets needs.
印象比较深刻的是几个片段。 At the beginning of the film, Soviet intelligence agent Abel was seized by the Bureau of Investigation agents. Abel was surrounded at home wearing only a pair of underwear. Before being taken away, he asked the agents if they could give him a puff of cigarette and then clear his palette before leaving. The detective did not doubt him and allowed him to do this, and then the camera showed Abel secretly scribbling a small piece of paper with secrets written on it and throwing it away. In this short scene, teacher Alex explains why the agent made a mistake. Why did you agree to Abel’s request? Most people answered that because this move seems reasonable and does no harm to us. If the scene changes to the negotiation table, any unintentional move may affect the outcome of the negotiation, so can we not be cautious? Stay alert during the negotiation and pay attention to anything that affects the pace of the negotiation. Whether it is words, emotions, facial expressions, body movements, subtle clues, pay attention.
Another scene shows the protagonist entering East Berlin alone in a biting cold weather, and accidentally encounters a group of gangsters on the street. Later, the gangsters wanted the high-end coat on the protagonist, but the protagonist was not forced to accept it. He used negotiation skills to “exchange” the address of where he wanted to go with the gangsters. At first glance, the results are similar. It is not cost-effective to exchange a coat for an address. Teacher Alex explains the importance of the weaker party in the negotiation to “exchange rather than accept.” Think about it, if today someone asks for a coat and just gives it to someone, then if someone asks for underwear next time, can we just do it obediently? It is a smarter way to use “exchange” to prevent the other party from taking and asking for more.
Many basic negotiation concepts are covered throughout the course. Teacher Alex hopes that we will all remember the four principles after class:
- Don’t make decisions on the spot.
- The boss is at home.
- Keep listening.
- Thank the other person for their hard work.
I still remember reading Mr. Alex’s article before and mentioned that I often encounter friends asking how to win negotiations. However, Teacher Alex believes that if he doesn’t know what to do, he will definitely win, but if he knows what to do wrong, he will definitely lose. It reminds me that ancient books on the art of war often mention the need to seize the opportunity and obtain an “invincible position.” I have never seen any “must-win positions” or “must-win moves” in military books. These four principles are not four sure-win strategies, but four principles that can at least achieve an invincible position in negotiations. If you want to lose in a negotiation, just do the opposite of the four principles; if you want to have a chance of winning, at least remember these four principles, first establish an invincible position and wait for the opportunity to win. In addition, the course also includes a top ten negotiation tactics card for simple review tips. When watching movies in the future, you can also refer to the four principles and small cards to judge what negotiation skills the characters used.
In this class, the negotiation profession and movies are cleverly combined, making the course informative and interesting. I think the advantage of watching movies to learn negotiation is that you can observe the thinking and specific actions of the people in the drama from a third party’s perspective, try to think from other people’s perspective, and do some situational drills. What is the current atmosphere and rhythm like? What changes have occurred in the atmosphere and rhythm during the interaction of the characters? How do the characters in the play react? Could I have made better decisions? Compared with simply reading negotiation books, you can catch the changes in rhythm through the plot of the movie, and it can also bring people into the situation unconsciously.
Another video was also shown in the course, “The Wrath of the Sea,” which is about the negotiations with Somali pirates. Unfortunately, time was limited and only excerpts could be played. Teacher Alex briefly talked about how to deal with irrational negotiations. Later, he mentioned that a Japanese sushi restaurant “eradicated” Somali pirates, which aroused my curiosity.简单查了一下资料，大概在2010至2011年是索马利亚海盗劫船的高峰期，后来在各国的武装舰队的监视及渔船的自我保护意识提升，劫船事件逐渐减少，把所有的功劳都归功给日本寿司店雇用海盗捕鱼而根治了海盗问题太过简化事实。 However, I am interested in the sushi industry’s approach to solving the piracy problem. It is very creative. At least the idea is not to treat a sore foot or a headache. Instead of dwelling on superficial positions, explore the needs of the other party and the interests of both parties. Are Somali pirates inherently bad? I don’t think so. Perhaps they took risks out of the need for survival. The sushi restaurant’s proposal of such a solution hit the pirates’ underlying needs and was more clever than simply using force to solve the problem.
After taking this class, I re-examined my understanding of negotiation. There is no so-called fairness and justice in negotiations. When both parties can agree to an agreement, we can maximize our interests. In the process, various methods may be used to try to influence the other party’s emotions and thinking, leading it to the direction or result we want. At the same time, negotiation is a tool that can be used for good or evil, depending on how the user uses it. In small cases, you can defend your own rights and interests, thereby protecting family and friends, in large cases, you can solve complex international problems. Individual power may be small, but when applied at critical leverage points, it can produce huge results. Finally, I would recommend this class to friends who like to watch movies and think. Through this class, you will be able to view the entire film from a new perspective and with the thinking of a master negotiator. I believe that you will be inspired by negotiation concepts and stimulate more different ideas.
