Principled Negotiation, Non-Violent Communication, Compassionate Listening.

Document IV: Principled Negotiation, Non-Violent Communication, Compassionate Listening.

There are a number of approaches to dialogue and negotiation that are noted and described in Points 4 and 7 and in DOCUMENT V, including Principled Negotiation, Non-Violent Communication, and Compassionate Listening. In their book Getting to Yes, Roger Fisher, William Ury and Bruce Patton of the Harvard Negotiation Project describe Principled Negotiation as a step by step proven strategy for coming to mutually acceptable agreements in every sort of conflict situation. This approach has been used successfully to resolve international conflicts. In Principled Negotiation adversaries:

~ Do not bargain from preconceived positions, attempting to force the other side to change its position
~ Focus on their own interests, i.e. their actual needs, desires, concerns
~ Look for mutual gains wherever possible
~ Insist that the results be based on fair standards independent of the will of either side
~ Work together to create options that will satisfy both parties

The authors also discuss how to negotiate successfully with adversaries who are more powerful, refuse to play by the rules, or resort to "dirty tricks." The University of Colorado's 'The Conflict Resolution Information Source' web site has a useful summary of Getting to Yes.