Dealcraft: Insights from Great Negotiators

In the final episode of Season One of Dealcraft: Insights from the World's Great Negotiators, I’ll offer you several fresh negotiation insights plus a look back over the dealmakers and diplomats from whom we've heard during these last twelve weeks. Each of these negotiators has given us a master class in one or more of the “dimensions” that make up the “3D Negotiation” framework that David Lax and I have developed over the last three decades: Setup: the moves “away from the table” designed to ensure the most  promising possible situation “at the table” for realizing your target agreement; Deal design: the art and science of crafting agreements that unlock value, financial and non-financial, ideally on a sustainable basis; and, Tactics: the persuasive and problem solving actions you take directly with your counterpart(s) “at the table,” whether physical or virtual. I start this episode with insights that draw on our interviews with Colin Powell. I then loosely organize a number of actions from Season 1 into setup, deal design, and tactical groups.  Among many other brief examples, I’ll draw on John Branca’s negotiations to buy the Beatles catalog, Des Stolar's beyond-thorough preparations for Shark Tank and dealing with Mark Cuban, Steve Schwarzman's hardball negotiations in Hong Kong, and Tommy Koh's remarkable elegant balance of spontaneity, patience, and drive that led to the U.S. Singapore Free Trade Agreement. While hardly comprehensive, I hope this look back will spur useful recollections. Host: Jim Sebenius Co-Producers: Alex Green and Avery Moore Kloss Outreach: Podglomerate Materials courtesy of the Great Negotiator Award Program at the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School, and the American Secretaries of State Program, a joint effort of the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School, the Program on the Future of Diplomacy at Harvard Kennedy School, and Harvard Business School. Copyright © President and Fellows of Harvard College.

Sadly, Colin Powell is best remembered in many quarters for deploying his immense personal prestige in giving what became his infamous speech at the United Nations. This speech purported to reveal evidence that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, thereby building support for the disastrous U.S. invasion of that country.  Powell did not want to give this speech on the rushed timetable demanded by President George W. Bush along with neoconservatives Vice President Dick Cheney and others. Having “lost” this timing negotiation with the president, the die was cast.  We probe this episode for insight into how a more sophisticated approach to his “negotiation” with the president might have led to a very different outcome, in the process seeking to extract positive lessons from painful negotiating failures. About Dealcraft Host: Jim Sebenius Co-Producers: Alex Green & Avery Moore Kloss Outreach: Podglomerate Materials courtesy of the American Secretaries of State Program, a joint effort of the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School, the Program on the Future of Diplomacy at Harvard Kennedy School, and Harvard Business School. Copyright © President and Fellows of Harvard College.

In 2015, before a rapt Harvard audience, Colin Powell recounted his poignant and incredible life story and career with me and my colleagues Bob Mnookin and Nick Burns. Interwoven into his remarkable accounts were lessons drawn from profound success and deep failure in negotiation. In this week's episode of Dealcraft: Insights from the World's Great Negotiators, I share three short examples of success from these conversations with Powell:   Dealing with Vladimir Putin over the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty Negotiating with the Chinese government in a tense incident over the release of the crew of a U.S. spy plane that crash-landed on a Chinese island Mediating an impending conflict between Spain and Morocco that threatened to escalate into a confrontation between the EU and the Arab League   Via these three examples, I extract a number of best practices for successful dealmaking, negotiation, dispute resolution, and leadership, gleaned from Powell’s distinguished 40-year career in the military and State Department. In the weeks to come, I will continue to explore these rich, powerful, and sometimes painful stories of negotiation from my time interviewing Secretary Powell.   About Dealcraft   For decades, I've practiced, researched, advised high-level clients, and taught effective approaches to complex negotiations. These experiences led me to create Dealcraft. I welcome you to join me as I interview some of the world’s greatest dealmakers and diplomats to share fascinating deal stories and distill practical insights for listeners to apply in their own toughest negotiations. You’ll find a 3-minute trailer and fuller description of Dealcraft’s first season here.   Host: James K. Sebenius Co-Producers: Alex Green and Avery Moore Kloss Outreach: Podglomerate   Materials courtesy of the American Secretaries of State Program, a joint effort of the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School, the Program on the Future of Diplomacy at Harvard Kennedy School, and Harvard Business School. Copyright © President and Fellows of Harvard College.

When facing any negotiating counterpart, especially a very tough one, it is wise to learn as much as possible about their background, likely approach, and tactics that can turn the interaction to your advantage.  This episode uses Vladimir Putin as a prototypical hardball opponent and shows just how much one can usefully learn by speaking with others who have extensively and personally negotiated with this challenging Russian leader. Via interviews with former U.S. Secretaries of State Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice, Hillary Clinton, John Kerry, and Rex Tillerson (who also carried out many negotiations with Putin when Tillerson was a top ExxonMobil executive), this episode gives valuable insights into dealing effectively with Putin, but more generally demonstrates a key element of preparation for tough deals.    For further reading and information:   3-D Negotiation: Powerful Tools to Change the Game in Your Most Important Deals by David Lax and James K. Sebenius Playbook for Negotiators in the Social Media Era Negotiating with Vladimir Putin by James K. Sebenius and Robert Mnookin The Man Without a Face by Masha Gessen Mr. Putin by Fiona Hill Putin’s People by Catherine Belton The Road to Unfreedom by Timothy Snyder From Cold War to Hot Peace by Michael McFaul Putin’s People by Ann Applebaum Winter is Coming by Garry Kasparov   Host: Jim Sebenius Co-producers: Alex Green and Avery Moore Kloss Outreach: Podglomerate   Materials courtesy of the American Secretaries of State Program, a joint effort of the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School, the Program on the Future of Diplomacy at Harvard Kennedy School, and Harvard Business School. Copyright © President and Fellows of Harvard College.