Q & A Table of Contents
How Can I Be More Creative?
From: Stephen, Lancashire, England
Question: Sometimes when I am in tough negotiations I find it difficult to be creative and worry that this weakness lets me down.
I have been in sales for eight years and have read many books and articles and have just finished a course on negotiation, but I have not found any information on this subject.
Please can you help?
Many thanks
Response: It is not realistic to think that a person can look in the mirror and simply order themselves to 'be creative'. Creativity is very often the result of the very un-creative activity of doing a good job of preparation.
Before you enter into a negotiation with a particular party, it is a good idea to think hard about your interests and objectives, the interests and objectives of the person with whom you will be dealing, and the interests and objectives of the constituencies or stakeholders of the parties who stand to gain or lose by the outcome of the negotiation.
Write out a diagram showing all the parties and stakeholders, possibly utilizing arrows or lines to show connections among them. Some of those connections may be to more than one of the parties or other stakeholders.
Write down a series of assumptions about the interests and objectives of each stakeholder on the diagram. Remember that when you assume, you take the risk of making an Ass of U and Me. Each assumption you make must be tested preparatory to the negotiation process if you can have individual conversations with stakeholders who are not the 'primary negotiators'. In addition, during the actual negotiation, asking questions to check out the reality of each assumption can help you figure out what possible options exist for reaching agreement.
The assumptions you make help you figure out what you need to find out during the negotiation process -- and they can set the 'creative juices' running in your mind. It can increase the likelihood that you can propose creative solutions to issues relevant to the negotiation.
I hope this helps your efforts to become more creative,
Steve
| 
