Inc writes on an activity we do all the time, providing insights into various books on the topic along the way:
Like most every other source of negotiation advice, Getting to Yes begins by saying that however much you think negotiation is part of your life, you’re underestimating. “Everyone negotiates something every day,” according to the introduction. “All of us negotiate many times a day,” G. Richard Shell ups the ante in the opening to Bargaining for Advantage.
Bargaining for Advantage , the book by Wharton professor G. Richard Shell, often backs its arguments with tidbits drawn from psychological research. For example, the “consistency principle” refers to people’s need to appear reasonable. You can take advantage of this by “skillful use of standards” to make other people feel they need to use your standards to feel reasonable. And the more authoritative your standards seem, the better. You Can Negotiate Anything , probably the most entertaining of the books, skips any allusion to scholarship about the human tendency to defer to authority, instead citing an old Candid Camera episode in which a surprising number of highway drivers confronted with the sign “Delaware Closed” actually turned around. And, of course, you want to give special attention to sussing out what your opponent really wants.
[E M E R G I C . o r g]