Finding Solutions to the hardest Problems

As a leader, what skills do you draw on to solve problems?

Your problem-solving process is principled.

• The participants are the problem-solvers.
• The goal is a wise outcome reached efficiently and amicably.

You separate the people from the problem.

• Be soft on the people, hard on the problem.

Focus on interests, not positions.

• Explore interests.
• Avoid having a bottom line.

Invent options for mutual gain.

• Develop multiple options to choose from; decide later.

Insist on using objective criteria.

• Try to reach a result based on standards independent of will.
• Reason and be open to reason; yield to principle; not pressure.

From:  Getting to Yes by Roger Fisher, William Ury, & Bruce Patton
Published by: Penguin Books

Problem Resolving

As a leader, do you have a process for resolving problems? 

Change the game.  At the Harvard Negotiation Project we have been developing an alternative to positional bargaining: a method of negotiation explicitly designed to produce wise outcomes efficiently and amicably.  This method, called principled negotiation or negotiation on the merits, can be boiled down to four basic points. 

These four points define a straightforward method of negotiation that can be used under almost any circumstance.  Each point deals with a basic element of negotiation, and suggests what you should do about it.

People:  Separate the people from the problem.
Interests:  Focus on interests, not positions.
Options:  Generate a variety of possibilities before deciding what to do.
Criteria:  Insist that the result be based on some objective standard.

From:  Getting to Yes by Roger Fisher, William Ury, & Bruce Patton
Published by: Penguin Books