Rss Description Here https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/ Thu, 22 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT Thu, 22 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT Ellis Croft Last week I revisited some of the tactical haggling we’ve been gawping at recently, concerning the future status of Greenland. One lesson for negotiators was drawn from the chosen European strategy of responding in very conventional and traditional diplomatic ways – restrained, polite and suitably vague. Given the apparent lack of impact on Trump’s “I want it all and I want it now” approach, I wondered whether sticking with plan A might be bettered by trying out an alternative strategy. Skilled negotiators focus on their objectives more than the strategy deployed to deliver them, as it’s very useful in helping identify when that strategy might not be working well. It makes it a lot quicker to arrive at the sensible question: can I still achieve my objectives if I do things differently? https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2026/plan-b-1/ Thu, 22 Jan 2026 14:15:00 GMT 14640 Ellis Croft Last January, prior to Donald Trump’s second coming as US President, I mulled his preference for haggling tactics – making extreme proposals in order to make the merely unreasonable look acceptable. As he returned to the White House, Trump had notably refused to rule out military action when it came to supporting his desire to acquire Greenland – the mere idea of one NATO ally using their military to invade another being extreme, to put it mildly. Interestingly, the Danish government very quickly announced a 12bn DKR investment in Greenland’s defence infrastructure – an apparent direct response to a classic haggling gambit. At the time, I wrote: “It'll be interesting to see whether this throwback tactic continues to produce the results it seems to have already generated – but given the fact that so far it has delivered tangible results, my view would be to expect more of the same.” https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2026/the-green-green-land-of-golden-dome/ Thu, 15 Jan 2026 14:13:25 GMT 14637 Tom Feinson Anyone who has negotiated for a while learns a simple rule: Actions speak louder than words. So, for the third blog in my trilogy on narrative, I’d like to look at how what’s said is often less important than what’s done. Words are flexible. Actions are costly. And when the two diverge, it usually tells you something important about where real priorities lie. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2026/actions-speak-louder-than-words/ Thu, 08 Jan 2026 12:06:39 GMT 14628 Tom Feinson It was early December at the North Pole, and the workshop was buzzing—not with cheer, but with tension. The elves had been grumbling for weeks. Long hours, outdated tools, and too-short candy breaks had pushed them to the edge. Some were even whispering about a strike. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2025/how-santa-saved-christmas/ Thu, 18 Dec 2025 11:58:50 GMT 14623 Tom Feinson Following on from my blog last week, I wanted to look at another related to narrative: that of redirection. If you want a real-time example of how people under pressure try to rewrite the story unfolding around them, look no further than Nigel Farage’s latest controversy. Confronted with resurfaced racist remarks he reportedly made as at school as a young man, Farage has chosen a familiar tactic: don’t defend, don’t apologise, go on the attack—redirect. And in this case, redirect straight at the BBC, accusing them of double standards. Even though it was the Guardian who broke the story, and the BBC are only reporting the news. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2025/nothing-to-see-here/ Thu, 11 Dec 2025 11:49:32 GMT 14620 Tom Feinson I don’t know if you heard Wes Streeting’s response to a resident doctor on LBC recently, if you haven’t, you should. It’s an outstanding piece of communication and shows just how important it is not to accept the buck when it’s being passed to you. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2025/resident-doctors-vs-wes-streeting-a-lesson-in-how-narratives-get-built/ Thu, 04 Dec 2025 13:04:28 GMT 14615 Andy Archibald Over the past few weeks, millions of people across the UK have been anxiously - or eagerly - anticipating what the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, would announce in the UK Budget. The big question on everyone’s mind: would we be better or worse off? And by how much? For those who aren't familiar, the Budget is the Government’s annual financial plan, detailing how much money it expects to raise and how it will allocate that money to fund public services and priorities. Leading up to the announcement, the Chancellor and the Government dropped several hints and signals about what potential changes might be included in the budget. For many, these signals pointed to bad news. However, bad news for some could be good news for others. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2025/the-uk-budget-sharing-bad-news-early/ Thu, 27 Nov 2025 11:08:38 GMT 14605 Horace McDonald Over that last 20 or so years, there have been numerous examples of Public Sector projects taking either significantly longer than originally planned and/or ending up with a level of cost way beyond the original budget. The High Speed2 Rail link, which started construction in 2019, was originally designed to deliver shorter train times from London to Birmingham and Manchester, and the latter has been curtailed at a write-off cost of £2.7 billion and it has been confirmed that the original opening date of 2033 will not be reached. I’ve heard unsubstantiated rumours of 2039! https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2025/public-procurement-problems/ Thu, 20 Nov 2025 14:29:28 GMT 14601 Andy Archibald The BBC - the British Broadcasting Corporation, for those outside the UK - is often seen as a jewel in the nation’s crown. But right now it finds itself, by its own admission, on the losing side of an argument with Donald Trump. It’s a testing time for the broadcaster. Beyond this dispute - as well as others - the BBC faces a crucial renegotiation of its funding and regulatory framework with the UK Government before the current agreement expires at the end of 2027. The last thing it needs right now is a protracted controversy involving the US President. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2025/the-bbc-vs-trump-when-you-re-on-the-losing-side-of-an-argument/ Thu, 13 Nov 2025 11:45:55 GMT 14582 Ellis Croft For many negotiators, the natural tendency is to focus on incentives. However, if that preference comes at the expense of calculating and using power drawn from sanction, we risk minimising – or worse, losing – power we hold in a negotiation. And that is an avoidable situation. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2025/the-sanction-dilemma/ Thu, 06 Nov 2025 14:00:48 GMT 14579 Ellis Croft Halloween is upon us once more, along with the last-minute panic-buying of industrial quantities of sweets for the trick-or-treat hordes. There are many origin stories explaining the practice of touring the neighbourhood on Halloween, demanding confectionery from all and sundry (or at least those who’ve signalled their tolerance with Halloween décor around their front doors). One of them comes from – appropriately enough for a Scotwork blog – Scotland, where the practise was (and still is in many places) known as “guising”. Children roam from door to door in costume (or “disguise”), earning treats in exchange for a song or a rhyme. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2025/guising-for-treats/ Thu, 30 Oct 2025 14:29:34 GMT 14571 Horace McDonald Of the many sports I played when I was younger, the two I loved the most were football and tennis, and in my early 60s, I am still playing them both. Full 11-a-side and 6-a-side for the former and only singles in tennis. For many people of my age who play or played tennis, Padel has become a major force in the market, not only because it’s an easier game, but the economics (played on half the size of a tennis court with 4 players) make it very attractive to sports club owners. I‘ll leave my views on Padel to another time. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2025/benefits-of-preparation/ Thu, 23 Oct 2025 13:45:28 GMT 14570 Andy Archibald Every so often, a friend shares entertaining stories about conflicts he’s had — mostly with customers — and how he resolves them. He strikes me as a strong negotiator. My (possibly unfair) perception is that he leans toward a more combative approach and doesn’t typically flex much from that style. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2025/collaborative-vs-combative/ Thu, 16 Oct 2025 11:00:39 GMT 14566 Ellis Croft Contract law – the fascinating collision between precedent and modern technology, underpinned by interpretation of intent, or dry minutiae only of concern to lawyers? If your view is that it’s closer to the “boring/not for me” end of the spectrum, but you negotiate, then I’d invite you to consider a couple of recent decisions pertaining to contract law. In Jaevee Homes Ltd v Fincham the UK High Court found that a series of WhatsApp messages formed the basis of a legally binding contract, rejecting arguments that the informal nature of the messages meant that no contract was entered into. Similarly, the UK Court of Appeal confirmed that DAZN (who held the broadcasting rights to FIFA’s club World Cup, which took place over the Summer) had entered a contract with South Korean broadcaster Coupang, sublicensing them local rights. Again, assertions that emails and WhatsApp messages were informal and indicative of “discussions” rather than a formal contract were rejected. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2025/i-fought-the-law-and/ Thu, 09 Oct 2025 14:36:51 GMT 14562 Horace McDonald Having spent a little over 23 years in the house in which we brought up our children (they were both born before we moved in), my wife and I recently sold up and moved into a smaller house – a term particularly known as ‘downsizing’. The UK’s Guardian newspaper recently ran a piece claiming that one of the things that is limiting growth in the UK economy is older people not selling their houses when they no longer need the space. Some of this was also attributed to a lack of building the right properties for older people to move into (they typically want gardens and not flats). Whilst this is an issue country-wide, I suspect likely to be less so in London where there is plenty of property choice on offer. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2025/changing-places/ Thu, 02 Oct 2025 12:51:09 GMT 14545 Ann Parr A few nights ago, after reading about the recent death of the actor Robert Redford, I sat down to re-watch the cinematic classic Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. I’ve long been a fan of both Redford and Newman and many years ago read Robert Redford’s biography by Michael Feeney Callan. My love of Westerns was passed down from my dad and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid was a firm family favourite. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2025/butch-cassidy-and-the-sundance-kid/ Thu, 25 Sep 2025 13:35:32 GMT 14521 Ellis Croft This week has seen Donald Trump’s second state visit to the UK – unprecedented for a non-royal, as he has pointed out on more than one occasion (mostly ignoring the caveat about royalty, it might be noted). One thing that has struck me has been Trump’s behaviour since his arrival – he’s been dignified, respectful and stuck to the diplomatic script with uncharacteristic discipline. Mind you, at the time of writing, there’s still a day to go, so we shall see how long it lasts. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2025/best-behaviour/ Thu, 18 Sep 2025 12:11:38 GMT 14499 Andy Archibald I fell into the trap. It’s one we’ve all potentially fallen into at least once. The trap of 'just give it a go and see what happens’. For me, it was attempting to do some DIY work in our bathroom at home, instead of just getting a professional to do it. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2025/get-a-professional/ Mon, 23 Feb 2026 16:03:02 GMT 14474 Ellis Croft One of the cornerstones of skilled negotiation is listening. While this may seem obvious to the point of redundancy, it’s quite remarkable to see the differences that participants on our courses apply to how they listen over the sequence of scenarios they negotiate. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2025/probably-teaching/ Thu, 04 Sep 2025 13:35:17 GMT 14458 Andy Archibald We’ve all potentially been there. You’re interviewing for a new job and have already had multiple interviews. And then you’re invited to a final stage interview to have an informal chat and be shown around the office. The signals are positive, and naturally, you begin to think there’s a good chance that you’re the final candidate, they’re going to make an offer and you’re in a stronger position to negotiate that offer. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2025/tell-them-what-they-need-to-know-early/ Thu, 28 Aug 2025 12:22:22 GMT 14450 Alan Smith I’ve been watching a great series on Apple TV called “Vietnam. The War that changed America”, well worth a watch. But very depressing for anyone who thinks that humanity learns from past mistakes. I am reminded of the book Cats Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut when a main character reads a book called “What humanity has learnt in 6,000 years of civilisation”. The book has one page. With one word. Nothing! I am not quite so cynical, but I do think that information is only part of the puzzle. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2025/perfect-information-resolves-all-conflict-does-it/ Tue, 19 Aug 2025 14:45:24 GMT 14436 Ellis Croft Not so long ago, my colleague Alan wrote about the perils of certain content (Paw Patrol, if you’re asking), limiting children’s ability to think critically – it’s excellent and thought-provoking (ICYMI, here it is). https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2025/kids-tv-not-all-junk/ Thu, 14 Aug 2025 11:42:53 GMT 14446 Ann Parr Just as Oasis begin a weekend of sell-out concerts and the Edinburgh Festival is overflowing with tourists. Just as ardent fans and eager visitors wander the city admiring its beauty and looking forward to a near future of ticket stubs and good times – the buses threaten to vanish! The drivers of East Coast Buses in Edinburgh have voted to strike, right in the middle of the biggest cultural pile up the city has seen in years. Threatening, not just to rain on the parade but to prevent people from ever getting to it in the first place! The reason? A very familiar one – wages. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2025/buses-ballads-and-blisters/ Thu, 07 Aug 2025 13:18:56 GMT 14439 Horace McDonald Having recently explored and deconstructed the myths that prevail in approaches of collaborative negotiation I thought I’d flip the coin to similarly highlight the myths associated with competitive negotiation. Our clients most frequently wish to focus on engendering collaborative approaches to improve the level of negotiation capability for participants; competitive strategies and behaviours are often revealed or come under discussion as well. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2025/myth-busting-competitive-negotiation/ Thu, 31 Jul 2025 10:53:55 GMT 14428 Ellis Croft One of the conversations that crops up regularly on our programmes revolves around the styles in which negotiations are conducted. Broadly speaking, there are two distinct approaches: collaborative, or competitive. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2025/myth-busting-collaborative-negotiation/ Thu, 24 Jul 2025 12:52:51 GMT 14422 Alan Smith If you don’t know what Paw Patrol is, let me enlighten you. Having spent time with a 4 and a 6-year-old I’ve become a bit of an expert. It is a massive children’s animated TV series created in Canada and syndicated across the world. It has spawned a couple of movies and merchandise deals, and even got mentioned by the ex-Canadian Prime Minister in a speech saying his family are fans of the show. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2025/why-paw-patrol-is-challenging-the-negotiation-capability-of-our-kids/ Thu, 17 Jul 2025 15:06:21 GMT 14415 Andy Archibald "I've been so busy tendering for new supplier contracts and not had much time to negotiate" was the response I got when I asked someone I met at a recent networking event how they were approaching their public sector negotiations here in the UK. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2025/not-sure-it-s-a-negotiation-it-probably-is/ Thu, 10 Jul 2025 11:05:25 GMT 14401 Ellis Croft A while back I wrote about the (then still potential) U-Turn being contemplated by the Labour Government around the winter fuel allowance. The sense was that any flexibility that might lead to a policy change would be punished in the media and political circles as representing weakness, and for negotiators flexibility is a crucial ally in managing the process of achieving agreements – so punishing flexibility is overwhelmingly self-defeating. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2025/the-joys-of-the-flip-flop-part-2/ Thu, 03 Jul 2025 12:58:16 GMT 14393 Ellis Croft Readers of a certain age may recognise the above blog title as a quote from the film “Withnail and I”. It’s a tragi-comic film (if you know, you know – if not, it’s worth a watch) and the holiday in question captures how best-laid plans don’t always work out. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/we-ve-gone-on-holiday-by-mistake/ Thu, 26 Jun 2025 12:46:45 GMT 14382 David Bannister I am on holiday. As many of us do, I read a lot on holiday. In my case, I read crime and mystery books but never anything too challenging.  When you are steeped in something the way we at Scotwork are in negotiation, you tend to spot connections in what you read and hear. In my current book, the hero rescues a woman from an assault in the street by a vagrant by holding a gun literally to the vagrant’s head: “Shaw didn’t say anything, he wasn’t somebody who negotiated or bartered. He kept the gun steady…” If you have a Glock automatic – essential equipment for the goodies and the baddies in the books I have been reading – and you are holding it to the head of a miscreant, it seems to me that there will be little room or need for negotiating. “Do as I say or get your brains blown out,” seems to me to be a compelling reason for speedy obedience. No need for negotiation when you have ultimate power and the counterparty can do nothing to mitigate your hold over them. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiamus/ Thu, 19 Jun 2025 13:01:21 GMT 14359 Horace McDonald One of the biggest challenges negotiators face is what will happen in the future. Future events are difficult to predict – in recent years the pandemic and the outbreak of war in Europe have had significant impacts on all areas of society and commerce. The next iteration that is causing people to think differently is the emergence of Artificial Intelligence (AI) at a sustained level. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/the-ai-crystal-ball/ Thu, 12 Jun 2025 11:07:38 GMT 14347 Ellis Croft Anyone with more than a passing interest in popular music is likely to be aware of the rider: a document (often in the form of a contract) that details the specific requirements of a performer or group at any given venue which will be hosting one or more gigs. Sounds a bit dry, no? Well, not always – not all riders are equal when it comes to the demands they make. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/through-the-eyes-of-the-negotiator-the-rider/ Thu, 05 Jun 2025 13:46:44 GMT 14324 David Bannister In Scotwork, we teach a course where we tell participants that they will learn over 100 skill tips and tricks.  In fact, they don’t learn all of them – no-one I know has such a retentive memory. They do, however, remember the bits that they think they can use as soon as they arrive back in their world and they also recall things when their own experiences or things happening around them jog their memory, thus adding to their kit of negotiating tools.  This week gave my memory a bit of a jog. The news reports caused me to think of quite a few negotiating lessons – let me share some of them with you. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/real-life-lessons-for-us-negotiators/ Thu, 29 May 2025 13:33:55 GMT 14315 Horace McDonald Last week began with a conference celebrating Scotwork’s 50th anniversary and the release of  ‘Once Upon a Deal Vol2’, it ended with my football team Crystal Palace winning the FA Cup for the first time in the 129-year history of the competition. Perhaps more importantly it has meant that the club have qualified for the Europa League and are guaranteed a minimum of 8 games, a new experience for the club and let’s not forget the additional revenue! https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/stick-or-twist-part-2/ Thu, 22 May 2025 12:53:05 GMT 14310 Ellis Croft As I write, delegations from Ukraine and Russia are due to meet directly (in Istanbul) for the first time since the full-scale invasion was launched more than three years ago. While this has obviously stoked heightened expectations around progress towards a ceasefire – perhaps even the scaffolding of a peace agreement – the absence of Vladmir Putin has attracted a good deal of attention. David Lammy, the UK’s foreign secretary,  contrasted the presence of Ukranian president Zelensky with the ”low level” representatives arriving from Russia. The subject of many of 2025’s blogs, Donald Trump, has touted that even he may grace Istanbul with his presence – should the talks emit positive signals. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/does-absence-make-the-heart-grow-fonder/ Thu, 15 May 2025 13:07:38 GMT 14303 Ellis Croft Following last week’s local elections, the post-mortem for the governing Labour Party has been somewhat brutal. Incumbent governments invariably face losses in local votes (and indeed that tends to be the first port of call for explaining losses for politicians of all stripes) but my interest is focused on one of the policies being held up as a key driver of Labour’s diminished vote share – the withdrawl of the winter fuel allowance. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/the-joys-of-the-flip-flop/ Thu, 08 May 2025 13:56:33 GMT 14297 Horace McDonald Much as I would like to use this story to rejoice in my football team Crystal Palace’s amazing win against Aston Villa in last Saturday’s FA Cup semi-final, there’s little about the result that is relevant to the negotiation. Or perhaps there is, but I just can’t get my head around it, having had my head in the clouds for the last 5 days. As the major European league seasons draw to a close, most of the major leagues’ winners have been identified many weeks ago, with Liverpool, Bayern Munich, Paris St Germain and Ajax all either having won or about to win their respective leagues. The only tight race is in Italy, where Inter have been chased down by Napoli and it looks like that one is going to the wire. Any Manchester Utd fan lamenting their very difficult league season should be wondering how they let Scott McTominay leave, who has been a revelation for Napoli, having scored 19 goals in 178 appearances for Utd yet already racking up 11 in 30 games for his new club, being hailed in Italy as a revelation. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/stick-or-twist/ Thu, 01 May 2025 10:01:41 GMT 14289 Ellis Croft If you write about negotiation, then there is a strange yet tangible appreciation in observing the mind-boggling chaos a certain Donald J Trump has brought to the world. A man who claims to be a brilliant negotiator is literally giving away gems on which to base musings with a generosity he is otherwise not known for. In terms of deficits, well… I suspect Donald would be furious if he were aware of how much he is giving away for those looking for contemporary inspiration for a negotiation blog. And I haven’t even purchased one of those MAGA baseball caps in return. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2025/notes-from-a-befuddled-observer-the-first-100-or-so-days/ Thu, 24 Apr 2025 08:56:56 GMT 14278 David Bannister Every week I enjoy a news magazine to which I subscribe. It’s called “The Week” and one of its features is a column of quotations which it calls “Wit and Wisdom”. One I read recently had, I thought, a relevance to negotiating as Scotwork teaches it. One of the things all tutors notice when they watch their course attendees in the case plays they do is their frequently diffident attitude to making the first move. It’s usual to see an “After you…” “No, after you…” No, really, you should go first...” behaviour. This is not politeness, even though they will tell you that it was instilled into them by their doting parents in the name of good manners. It is fear. Fear of the unknown, in this case, fear of not knowing whether an opening proposal is too generous and will result in their hand being snapped off or so wildly over-optimistic that it will lead to gales of laughter and the pointing finger of derision. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2025/do-you-think-you-can/ Thu, 17 Apr 2025 10:56:07 GMT 14269 Ellis Croft I was struck this morning by a quote from (yes, sorry, it’s him again) Donald Trump in his speech to the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) dinner on Tuesday. Trump was talking about the number of countries around the world calling the White House for trade discussions, driven by last week’s tariff announcements. If you are of a delicate disposition, look away now: “I’m telling you, these countries are calling us up, kissing my ass. They are dying to make a deal. ‘Please, please, Sir, make a deal. I’ll do anything. I’ll do anything, sir.” https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2025/kissing-the-ring/ Thu, 10 Apr 2025 09:23:22 GMT 14230 Horace McDonald I first needed a bank account when I went to university and at that time everything seemed straightforward. Midland Bank had a portacabin behind the student union building and the only three things that were important were a chequebook, trying to keep a tally on how much of my student loan I’d spent and being able to access cash at a time when cash machines were being rapidly installed. That said, one of the students on my course couldn’t understand why the amount of money on their statement kept going up the more money they withdrew. I’ll leave you to figure out the sheer stupidity of this! https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2025/the-devil-s-in-the-detail/ Thu, 03 Apr 2025 12:47:38 GMT 14213 Ellis Croft Just deserts is a metaphor frequently used to describe an appropriate punishment (mostly used in fiction to add a satisfying mirror effect – think of the naughty golden-ticket kids in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, for example). But what if it were literal? What if all we could eat was sweet? Or worse still, if all we faced stretching into the horizon was nothing but sand? The latter is a bit scarier, at least for most of us. But not all of us. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2025/just-deserts/ Thu, 27 Mar 2025 13:39:48 GMT 14207 Andy Archibald Many of you who read our blog might be Manchester United fans. In fact, there’s a very good chance that this is the case, given the Club has a reported billion followers around the world.  The Club has been in the UK news a lot lately. Well, they’re always in the news, really. Lately, the news has been that results on and off the pitch continue to be mixed, with balancing the books off the pitch proving to be as challenging as adapting to the new manager’s style on the pitch. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2025/there-s-usually-another-way/ Thu, 20 Mar 2025 15:00:33 GMT 14201 Horace McDonald Whilst it could be interesting to investigate the trade conflict being driven by tariffs in more detail, a different story has emerged this week that tickled me somewhat. Spoiler alert: it involves cars (and sausages). https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2025/do-you-know-where-the-value-is/ Thu, 13 Mar 2025 13:46:11 GMT 14194 Annabel Shorter The theme of this year’s IWD is ‘Accelerate Action’. They are calling on everyone, every gender, corporation or individual, to do their bit to accelerate the pace of change. I am trying to be positive, I really am. But what frightens me is the apparent speed with which organisations have judged the new mood in the US and leapt to cancel their DEI programmes. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2025/get-on-with-it/ Fri, 07 Mar 2025 13:13:09 GMT 14189 Andy Archibald Déjà vu is a funny thing. After 5 weeks of Donald Trump being back as the President of the United States, we are becoming familiar with waking up in the morning, reading the news and learning (yet again) that Trump is the top story and has taken another extreme position on something. It’s gotten to be so much that last week BBC News provided a ’19 things Trump has done this week’ summary. Some people I know have switched off from the news for a while. And if you have as well, you might be pleased to know this blog isn’t about Trump. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2025/broken-record/ Thu, 27 Feb 2025 13:54:18 GMT 14180 Horace McDonald Whatever you think about Donald Trump, he’s impossible to ignore and boy doesn’t he get a ton of press. In the past few weeks, we have continued to see his negotiation position being one of, I’ll try to take what I want and will display a total disregard for the other party’s needs. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2025/whose-side-are-you-on/ Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:03:09 GMT 14164 Ellis Croft Interrupting the seemingly never-ending cycle of grim news last week came a story from Nottingham that offered a more cheerful view of the world. The Gelding Inn – a Nottingham pub not previously globally famous – crashed into all of our news and social media feeds after a promotional offer its landlady devised went somewhat wrong. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2025/own-goal/ Thu, 13 Feb 2025 14:36:24 GMT 14153 Horace McDonald We are now only 2 weeks on since the inauguration of Donald Trump as the 47th President of the United States and I don’t think anyone could have predicted the extreme nature of the proposals he has made since then. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2025/trump-by-name/ Thu, 06 Feb 2025 13:58:57 GMT 14145 David Bannister I guess that many of you reading this are familiar with the TV series “The Traitors”.  In our house, it passed us by until we were snowed in after Christmas and we binge-watched the first series and are now watching the third series. For those of you unfamiliar with it, the series lasts a number of weeks and involves 22 people who are isolated in a castle and given “missions” as teams. Completion of missions wins money and the pot of money is awarded to the survivors. There are secret traitors among the 22 who can ‘murder’ others in the castle – one every night. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2025/treacherous-negotiation/ Thu, 30 Jan 2025 13:49:39 GMT 14139 Horace McDonald During a week in which we have seen the inauguration of the 47th President of the United States, I’ve decided to avoid the temptation to write about it. Frankly, the whole spectacle leaves me wondering what the state of the world might be in 2029. Instead, I’m trying to ‘Keep Calm and Carry on’ and I’ve decided to write about something closer to home. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2025/the-new-future/ Thu, 23 Jan 2025 13:09:12 GMT 14130 Ellis Croft Haggling has been around for a long time – my guess would be that pretty shortly after humans started to trade, haggling followed. As a means of achieving a good end result, it’s a step up from simply giving in and conceding ground in order to gain agreement without getting anything at all in return. However, by its nature, haggling is an activity that automatically diminishes value as it progresses: parties start some distance apart, and simply exchange movement towards one another, colliding somewhere in between the start points. Crucially the sole direction of travel is that hagglers only ever end up with less than what they asked for. And in that sense, it’s entirely different to negotiating, where value is created as the condition to secure required movement. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2025/return-of-the-haggle/ Thu, 16 Jan 2025 11:24:42 GMT 14124 Horace McDonald At the start of the new year, I thought it might be interesting to look back and reflect on a year that has certainly presented certain challenges to the stability of the UK, European and World political, social and economic systems. In July 2024, the UK saw its first change in Government - to Labour - in 14 years. Even the most die-hard supporters of the outgoing administration would attest to the last few years of Conservative rule being rather shambolic. The endeavours of the incoming administration to rebalance the books through taxation have been largely pilloried in the press and seemingly energised the Reform Party. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2025/a-2025-outlook/ Thu, 09 Jan 2025 13:49:28 GMT 14106 Ellis Croft It’s that time of year where thoughts of trading value through negotiating tend to give way to focusing on giving, rather than trading – and rightly so. Treating Christmas as a negotiation when it comes to gifts? Not advisable! https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2024/the-santa-stratagem/ Thu, 19 Dec 2024 11:20:19 GMT 14096 Alan Smith I intend to advise kids on how to maximise their Christmas List, partly to even the score, but as Sun Tzsu said in his excellent treatise “The Art Of War” “If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles”. Parents take heed. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2024/time-flies/ Thu, 12 Dec 2024 10:21:24 GMT 14094 Tom Feinson The Zero Emissions Mandate, known as ZEM to its friends, is in the news at the moment and, on the subject of friends, is fast losing them. What is the Mandate? https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2024/electric-shock/ Thu, 05 Dec 2024 13:31:40 GMT 14085 Siobhan Bermingham “I’ve been in recruitment for 20 years and at the start I always thought, oh negotiation is just when I’m talking to a new client and we are deciding what the terms and conditions will be: but actually, everything is a negotiation” says Nadia Edwards-Dashti, co-founder of the Harrington Starr Group, whom we had the pleasure of speaking with in our latest episode of the Deal Divas Negotiation Podcast. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2024/deal-divas-negotiation-in-recruitment-the-tech-industry-improving-diversity/ Thu, 28 Nov 2024 14:00:24 GMT 14053 Annabel Shorter Black Friday made its way into the UK with a dramatic debut in 2010. Originally a purely American tradition tied to Thanksgiving, Black Friday drew large crowds, attracted by heavy discounts. In its first few years in the UK, the event was marked by chaotic scenes, with news footage showing shoppers physically clashing in stores, all in an effort to claim limited-stock bargains. Security guards often struggled to maintain order, underscoring the intense demand and feverish anticipation surrounding the day. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2024/has-black-friday-had-its-day/ Thu, 21 Nov 2024 13:55:16 GMT 14043 Ellis Croft Earlier this week we received one of the most anticipated internal emails of the year – the identity of our co-Scotworker who will be overjoyed (or utterly bereft) at their secret Santa gift. For those of us outside the world of espionage, the imperative to conceal information deliberately is comparatively rare, so Secret Santa does carry a certain appeal to those of us with memories of Cold War spy dramas. The excitement of avoiding detection, of ensuring the secrets we hold remain safe, combined with a gift that will preserve your anonymity from the recipient? What’s not to like? https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2024/that-s-for-me-to-know/ Thu, 14 Nov 2024 14:09:23 GMT 14034 Tom Feinson So, who’d have thought it! Not many, if you had listened to the panellists on the Rest is Politics live: only one in six predicted that Trump would win. Why is that? Well, I suspect desire is father of the thought, technically described as confirmation bias: “A tendency for people to process information by looking for, or interpreting, information that is consistent with existing beliefs”. Equally, we will dismiss information that doesn’t conform to our existing beliefs. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2024/the-big-orangun/ Thu, 07 Nov 2024 10:37:51 GMT 14021 Ellis Croft As we consider our preparations for Halloween (from drawing the curtains and ensuring the lights are all off – it’s an American tradition after all – to merrily carving a gruesome face into a Pumpkin and purchasing vast quantities of sweets for the trick or treating kids), wherever we sit on the traditions of All Hallows Eve, it has come to be associated with scares and horrors as much, if not more than anything else. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2024/the-greatest-horror-of-them-all/ Thu, 31 Oct 2024 10:55:47 GMT 14015 Horace McDonald In 2023 ITV, the major commercial broadcaster in the UK, released another reality TV series with the above title. The idea is that young people whose parents are divorced apply for their Mum or Dad to be a participant on the programme to help them find a new partner. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2024/my-mum-your-dad/ Thu, 24 Oct 2024 10:17:19 GMT 14011 David Bannister Like many people, since July this year, I have had a new Member of Parliament and, in my case, she represents a different party from the previous MP, but I live in a marginal constituency so a change of party is not unusual. I tell you this because I will come back to it. Now a change of direction... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2024/has-the-mp-missed-the-bus/ Thu, 17 Oct 2024 12:44:10 GMT 14003 Ann Parr The tech industry has long been an area where women are very much in the minority of the workforce. In 2017 PWC stated that only 3% of female students were considering a career in technology as their first choice and at that time they stated that only 23% of people in STEM roles in the UK were women, with only 5% in leadership roles. Post-pandemic there was a... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2024/in-this-new-episode-from-the-deal-divas/ Thu, 10 Oct 2024 09:13:21 GMT 13997 Siobhan Bermingham A few years ago, in a previous role, I was brought in to do some consultancy work with a company that was attempting to build long-term relationships with well-established firms in their market. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2024/the-bank-is-closed/ Thu, 03 Oct 2024 13:22:43 GMT 13987 Ellis Croft I was struck by the language reported this week in coverage of Boeing’s negotiations with their workers (or unions, depending on whose point of view you’re taking – the employer maintain they’re going by the book, the union accuse the proposal of being made via media channels). https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2024/red-red-line/ Thu, 26 Sep 2024 12:27:09 GMT 13981 Siobhan Bermingham A big meeting was coming up, one that I'd been working towards for a year. I felt pretty confident I'd done my due diligence and established a track record of being reliable and trustworthy as far as I could tell. So, it's safe to say I was feeling as confident as I could be going into this negotiation but still I knew I had to take the time to thoroughly prepare. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2024/looking-through-my-lens/ Thu, 19 Sep 2024 10:53:57 GMT 13976 David Bannister In the last few weeks, general practitioners (GPs) in the UK have announced what they describe as “collective action”.  For the first time in 60 years, GPs have adopted an approach involving restricting their work to achieve their objective of better pay and funding.  This action is at the discretion of individual GP practices and was backed by a huge majority in a ballot.  https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2024/a-strategy-in-need-of-surgery/ Thu, 12 Sep 2024 13:08:07 GMT 13970 Horace McDonald Undoubtedly the biggest news of last week was the announcement of Oasis reforming to play a number of shows in the UK (which will undoubtedly spread across the globe). The level of both positive and negative feedback to this announcement has been interesting. For the diehard fans,... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2024/when-is-the-price-the-price/ Thu, 05 Sep 2024 12:28:54 GMT 13962 Tom Feinson Anyone involved in negotiation will say that it’s important to understand the wants, needs, motives of the other party, phrases such as “Walk a mile in their shoes”, “seek first to understand before being understood” or “Negotiate from inside their head” are commonplace sayings. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2024/behaviour-breeds-behaviour/ Thu, 29 Aug 2024 12:40:13 GMT 13945 David Bannister I live close to the route of the LNER rail link to London from Scotland along the East Coast. The franchise previously held by Virgin was nationalised four years ago. Like other rail lines,... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2024/ave-yer-done/ Thu, 22 Aug 2024 12:55:58 GMT 13941 Ann Parr As I wandered around Edinburgh this weekend enjoying the atmosphere and sights of the start of the annual Edinburgh Festival and Fringe, creativity, like love in the song, was all around. Not just in the creative (ok, frankly sometimes downright bonkers) names of fringe shows; ‘3 Chickens Confront Existence’ or ‘Mitzi Fitz’s Glitzy Bitz’, don’t ask or indeed even try to say after a couple of sweet sherries! https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2024/creativity/ Thu, 15 Aug 2024 12:01:48 GMT 13934 David Bannister I was chatting recently to a friend who is in the last stages of a somewhat acrimonious divorce.  He was telling me how difficult it had been to reach a financial and property settlement and how it was not made easier by the process of both parties negotiating through their solicitors whose approach seemed rigid.  He described how the financial settlement between the parties had reached the point of agreement on the sums involved but that he would have to wait months for his settlement as his wife was being financially supported in the deal by her family and they were refusing to pay for a long time because paying now would mean that they would lose money by cashing in investments before a specified date.  https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2024/from-left-field/ Wed, 07 Aug 2024 09:03:53 GMT 13930 Horace McDonald The statistics state that over a billion people will have watched the Paris 24 Olympic opening ceremony last Friday. It was certainly one to remember, what with the rain and the extent to which it sought to represent diversity in all its forms throughout. I’m not sure I’d spend 4 hours watching it again but it surely was a spectacle to be remembered. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2024/olympic-success/ Wed, 31 Jul 2024 11:10:48 GMT 13926 Ellis Croft The unwinding of Joe Biden’s re-election campaign came to its conclusion over the weekend, as the President withdrew his presumptive nomination as Democratic candidate in this November’s US election. This process brutally illustrates the win/lose nature of politics (which we saw on this side of the pond on the 4th July) and gave me pause for thought. Politics at election time is inherently competitive – the objective is to win power, almost always at the expense of a rival. Negotiation offers us a different possibility, however – that counter-parties may have the ability to emerge from a conflict mutually satisfied, rather than as victor or defeated. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2024/biden-bows-out/ Wed, 24 Jul 2024 14:11:11 GMT 13910 David Bannister I write regularly but not frequently on this blog page and mostly my whimsical musings reflect on what has passed and allow me the benefit of 20:20 hindsight.  This blog will be different.  Last week, the UK saw a widely predicted change of government. This, in itself, was fascinating from an electoral statistics point of view but comment on that must be for another day.  I am going to look at a negotiation that is yet to happen and consider the important factors in play and try to predict what might result. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2024/a-negotiator-s-crystal-ball/ Thu, 11 Jul 2024 18:13:26 GMT 13900 Andy Archibald For those who are getting excited to visit the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in August this year, get ready for a world-leading celebration of theatre, comedy, dance, physical theatre, circus, cabaret, children's shows, musicals, opera, music, spoken word, exhibitions, and events. And piles and piles of uncollected rubbish lining the streets. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2024/rubbish-on-the-streets-of-edinburgh/ Mon, 15 Sep 2025 07:50:17 GMT 13882 Ellis Croft Last week I was lucky in two respects: I got to see the excellent Nye at the National Theatre, but – second slice of luck - only because I’d uncharacteristically put a calendar invite in for the week before, having booked the tickets last October and knowing that in the absence of doing so I’d likely fail to book childcare or miss it entirely through forgetfulness. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2024/giving-to-get/ Thu, 27 Jun 2024 13:59:11 GMT 13874 Ann McAleavy When you watch any form of news reporting, you'll have heard this chant. There are many reasons for people protesting, and it can help highlight issues that we're not always aware of. People feel strongly not only about better pay and working conditions but many other things too.  Do we always get what we want - no! Do we get what we want just because we shout about it?  Not always.  Is there a better way to approach an issue to enable you to get people to listen to what you want?  I think there often could be. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2024/what-do-we-want-when-do-we-want-it-now/ Thu, 20 Jun 2024 12:52:03 GMT 13856 Ellis Croft News that one of Rishi Sunak’s aides allegedly placed a wager on the date of the general election mere days before it was announced is causing ripples in the already turbulent waters of the current news cycle. Of course we must acknowledge – rightly – the presumption of innocence in this and all such cases, as a matter of principle. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2024/wanna-bet/ Thu, 13 Jun 2024 14:48:39 GMT 13849 David Bannister To escape from the media’s obsession with the upcoming election, we have been pleased, in our house, to divert our attention away to the third series of “Clarkson’s Farm”.  For those of you who have not seen this, there have been 24 episodes so far of the efforts Jeremy Clarkson, journalist and TV personality, has made with his partner Lisa to farm the thousand acres, known as Diddly Squat Farm, he bought as an investment in the Cotswolds. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2024/what-a-corny-way-to-negotiate/ Thu, 06 Jun 2024 12:26:10 GMT 13839 Horace McDonald In the last 2 years my wife and I have treated ourselves to a bit of winter sun. She needs it more than I do and it certainly helps to break up the monotony of the British winter and this year has been a particularly miserable one. We were on... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2024/question-mark/ Fri, 31 May 2024 11:34:04 GMT 13831 Ellis Croft So the starter’s pistol has been fired on the UK’s general election, which we now know will take place on July 4th this year. The sight of a sodden Prime Minister, gamely stating his optimism in the driving rain, to the unwanted accompaniment of D:Ream’s 1993 ditty “Things can only get better” – adopted by Blair’s New Labour project four years later and the anthem to their 1997 landslide victory – may prove to be one of the defining images of the election. There are likely to be some notable milestones, statistics and events between now and the big day, it’s reasonable to speculate. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2024/fibs-can-only-get-better/ Thu, 23 May 2024 13:48:36 GMT 13825 The Scotwork Team In this month’s new episode of the Deal Divas – A Negotiation Podcast, our experts interview Charlie Cadbury, CEO at Say It Now. Charlie's focus is 'Actionable Ads'. Using Voice Assistants (like Alexa & Google Assistant) to deliver engagement, insight and a transactional endpoint for advertising campaigns. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2024/deal-divas-episode-4/ Thu, 16 May 2024 12:53:32 GMT 13807 Ellis Croft When I worked in a learning and talent team, I used to hear this refrain a lot from folk both inside and outside my own organisation. On occasion, even from individuals in commercial or procurement roles, which always used to fire all manner of synapses in my brain (“what do you do? Surrender? Threaten the other party? Draw lots?!?” and so on). https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2024/i-don-t-negotiate/ Thu, 09 May 2024 14:55:29 GMT 13797 Andy Archibald This week marks the beginning of May and the unofficial start to this year's wedding season. Like many couples, my partner and I are getting married this year and have been busy planning the big day, including negotiating with multiple suppliers for everything from the venue to the cake. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2024/do-you-say-yes-to-the-dress/ Thu, 02 May 2024 12:40:38 GMT 13783 Ellis Croft During most of our recent courses, many participants have raised the issue of leverage, or power, in their negotiations in relation to the challenges they lean into on a day-to-day basis. It’s a topic that’s well worth reviewing and on a regular basis – there’s plenty to think about. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2024/power-play/ Wed, 24 Apr 2024 15:23:00 GMT 13786 Ann McAleavy At Scotwork, we teach people the importance of being creative and specific when they prepare to negotiate.   Here’s a cat’s tale to remind us all. I love cats... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2024/paws-for-thought/ Thu, 18 Apr 2024 10:57:54 GMT 13765 The Scotwork Team In this episode, our negotiation experts dive into their experiences and learnings through the years around the importance of preparation ahead of their negotiations. From learning to consider the other side’s needs, to being able to adjust expectations and clarify objectives on both ends and prepare for discrepancies, the podcast includes many anecdotes that have served as learning experiences for the three women. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2024/deal-divas-episode-3-plan-to-prepare-fail-to-fail/ Thu, 11 Apr 2024 12:28:34 GMT 13743 Tom Feinson In 1994, as part of the privatisation of the coal industry, the government committed to protecting mineworkers’ pensions. In return (kudos to the government) as part of the agreement the government was to get 50% of any surplus to the scheme. On the face of it,... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2024/mine-all-mine/ Thu, 04 Apr 2024 10:18:22 GMT 13731 David Bannister There’s a lot in the media at the moment about “bullying”.  It seems that often when you challenge a point of view there is a risk that the challenge could give rise to an accusation of bullying.  When we ask people about which negotiating situation they find most challenging they often tell us it involves aggressive behaviour. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2024/back-off/ Wed, 27 Mar 2024 15:40:33 GMT 13721 John McMillan This story is from Politico political website in 2021, when Boris Johnston was king. He got involved in a negotiation which was not his remit. Ever keen to show that Brexit benefits were more than just being able to buy our vegetables in stones, pounds and ounces, he was hosting a dinner at No.10 for the Australian Prime Minister and made an unplanned concession with huge ramifications for British beef farmers. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2024/when-you-let-the-boss-get-involved-in-the-negotiation-when-they-are-not-prepared/ Thu, 21 Mar 2024 11:18:05 GMT 13709 Tom Feinson Football financial fair play - whilst being alliteratively fun - strikes me as something of an oxymoron, but there you go. In an effort to curb some of the more outlandish behaviour of premier league clubs Profit and Sustainability Rules (PRS) were introduced, in the 2015/16 season. These rules specify that English premier league clubs are allowed to lose £105m over a 3-year spell. Unfortunately for them, Everton recorded losses of £125m. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2024/go-extreme-or-go-home/ Thu, 14 Mar 2024 11:59:29 GMT 13703 The Scotwork Team In celebration of International Women’s Day, we are thrilled to launch 'Deal Divas', a podcast that will be a candid, sometimes serious, sometimes humorous take on all things negotiation from three women who spend their lives immersed in the topic. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2024/deal-divas-a-scotwork-podcast/ Thu, 14 Mar 2024 10:30:52 GMT 13687 Ellis Croft One area of negotiation that can end up being frequently overlooked is agreement. In other words, the specific terms and conditions parties are binding themselves to in the contract that the negotiation will produce. For some (including for many years, me) this can be challenging – after all, if the main issues have been traded around to the point that parties are comfortable then agreement must naturally follow. Right? https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2024/what-did-i-just-agree-to-again/ Thu, 29 Feb 2024 14:27:06 GMT 13676 Siobhan Bermingham As AI’s presence in the commercial world increases, a recent Canadian tribunal has many questioning how reliable AI is when it comes to sales, negotiation and customer interaction. AI is being utilised across industries to assist businesses in automating tasks, enhancing decision-making with data analytics, personalising marketing campaigns, optimising supply chain logistics, predicting trends for strategic planning and improving customer service through chatbots. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2024/ai-gone-wrong/ Thu, 22 Feb 2024 10:53:16 GMT 13668 Andy Archibald Like millions of people in the UK, we've been hooked by the reality TV show, The Traitors. While waiting for the second-to-last episode of season 2, we watched the end of another popular TV program in the UK called Dragon's Den. The show features entrepreneurs pitching their business ideas to the Dragons, multimillionaire investors who decide whether to invest in exchange for a stake in the company. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2024/beware-the-perils-of-giving-in/ Thu, 15 Feb 2024 13:52:59 GMT 13661 Siobhan Bermingham Whether it's dream proposals, hidden needs, wishes unfulfilled, the need for a greater understanding of what your partner is saying, generous offerings, power dynamics or learning how to give them what they want - Valentine's has never reminded me so much of negotiation before. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2024/my-kind-of-proposal-this-valentines/ Thu, 08 Feb 2024 13:02:05 GMT 13654 Ellis Croft At the start of the year, it’s entirely normal to see predictions for the forthcoming year broadcast across just about any and every media we consume. Fair enough – many of us are curious and where’s the harm in a bit of speculation? Take on board the fact that it’s very likely to be an election year in the UK (and it most certainly is in the US) and this tendency to read the runes can become all-pervasive. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2024/crystal-balls/ Thu, 01 Feb 2024 16:18:57 GMT 13647 Siobhan Bermingham As another January draws to a close and numerous New Year’s resolutions begin to fall by the wayside, I find myself reflecting on the opportunity we have to review the old and create the new. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2024/negotiating-in-2024-new-year-new-negotiator/ Thu, 25 Jan 2024 10:58:50 GMT 13640 Horace McDonald At the end of my road is a road that connects two semi-major roads running west from Shepherds Bush Green. We moved into this house almost 22 years to the day and like many parts of London, the area represents an interesting bellwether of the national and local economy. At the time we moved in, the shopping at of the abovementioned road was book-ended by a small petrol station,... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2024/the-house-always-wins/ Thu, 18 Jan 2024 14:48:26 GMT 13630 Ellis Croft Over Christmas I was struck by the number of trees in full blossom around my neighbourhood in London – yes, the weather was very mild, but in mid-winter, it was still quite a surprise to see such a sign of Spring so abundant. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2024/blossoming-confusion/ Thu, 11 Jan 2024 14:39:36 GMT 13596 Horace McDonald The start of 2023 saw Scotwork UK revert to its traditional model of running the majority of face-to-face courses. Whilst Virtual courses remain popular with a handful of clients, most clients recognise the benefits of developing capability in negotiation as a skill being best taught in the classroom. To a degree,... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2024/the-year-that-was/ Thu, 04 Jan 2024 12:30:00 GMT 13586 Siobhan Bermingham Tis’ the season for festivities, gifts and rampant retail sales. As the Christmas season is upon us, now is the time for the retail industry to transform products into bundles of Christmas joy. The skilful negotiators know this is a time of great success or great loss. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2023/unwrapping-success-in-the-retail-industry/ Thu, 14 Dec 2023 11:40:25 GMT 13565 Horace McDonald Negotiations are made up of several issues/variables most of which have a different value to each party. We define negotiation as a process by which parties in conflict adjust their positions, by trading issues of lesser importance in exchange for issues of greater importance, because the agreement must be implemented by all parties. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2023/no-alarm-no-surprises/ Thu, 07 Dec 2023 10:51:27 GMT 13539 Yannis Dimarakis I am Greek, so I cannot claim objectivity on the subject matter. But it is hard to refrain from pointing out a few points of interest, from a negotiator's viewpoint. One does not need to be a negotiation expert to know that high emotions usually lead to mistakes. The Greeks have been campaigning for the return of the Parthenon marbles and their reunification with the monument they belong to, centuries after Lord Elgin amputated the friezes and took the facades. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2023/prime-ministers-fighting-over-marbles/ Thu, 30 Nov 2023 10:04:36 GMT 13517 Ellis Croft Earlier this year I had one of my window frames fixed, under guarantee. Not particularly exciting, nor ostensibly relevant to a negotiation-themed blog. Although to be fair, the repair took place 22 years after the installation. Oh, and 12 years after the expiry of the 10-year guarantee that was the standard offer… https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2023/sliding-windows/ Thu, 23 Nov 2023 10:02:51 GMT 13498 Siobhan Bermingham As Black Friday fast approaches the hum of excitement is building, murmurs of killer deals and discussions about treating oneself to items you might otherwise never consider buying. Is this due to the ‘huge discounts’ or is it the illusion of the limited time offer and FOMO (fear of missing out)? https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2023/drastic-discounts-or-deception/ Thu, 16 Nov 2023 13:24:12 GMT 13488 Horace McDonald Lunch for me on most days is me walking into the house from the bottom of my garden and preparing a light meal, often an omelette shared with my wife. I often turn on the TV to catch up on the sports news or watch a bit of sport, which now is mostly the Cricket World Cup. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2023/man-o-man/ Thu, 09 Nov 2023 09:48:19 GMT 13478 Tom Feinson “We’ve already established what you are - now we are just haggling over the price”. This story is so well known that I don’t need to describe the full scenario - but do you know who said it? https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2023/the-hair-stays/ Thu, 02 Nov 2023 13:43:37 GMT 13471 Ellis Croft Of course, not everything in life is a negotiation. But when you spend a big chunk of your time observing negotiations, it can become a habit to see dynamics from a certain perspective. And as it’s Halloween, it seems appropriate to understand how a negotiator might view some of the spookiest of films. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2023/through-the-lens-of-the-negotiator-spooky-halloween-movies/ Thu, 26 Oct 2023 14:57:15 GMT 13461 Siobhan Bermingham As the excitement and expectations of Halloween are building, I’ve been reflecting on the various negotiation strategies I implemented from a young age during Halloween. I remember the anticipation – as the youngest of 6 children, I’d watched my 5 brothers come back with huge buckets full of sweets. It was finally my turn! https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2023/trick-or-treating-ominous-halloween-decorations/ Wed, 25 Oct 2023 09:41:16 GMT 13228 Andy Archibald We’ve just finished watching the first season of Poker Face. For those who haven’t watched it, the main character has an almost superhuman ability to tell 100% of the time when someone is lying. I bet many of us wish we had this when we suspect someone is bullshitting us! https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2023/beware-the-trap-of-just-one-more-thing/ Thu, 12 Oct 2023 10:05:20 GMT 13226 Ellis Croft Back in the 1990s, when I’d been sent by my employers to learn about how to negotiate more effectively, I recall thinking about the final two steps (close and agree) – well really, what’s the substantive difference? https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2023/agreeing-the-work-of-the-devil/ Thu, 05 Oct 2023 12:24:17 GMT 13201 Horace McDonald The football transfer window in England closed on Friday 1 September, so you might ask why I’m reporting on this a couple of weeks later, I’ll come to that later. In England the transfer circus dominates the sports media and Sky Sports News devotes hours of coverage with various experts and influencers speculating which player is joining which team and at what price. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2023/shifting-sands/ Wed, 27 Sep 2023 14:54:35 GMT 13184 Ellis Croft One crucial way in which skilled negotiators improve the quality of their deal-making is by pricing in the different values that parties place on the variables under discussion. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2023/the-past-is-a-foreign-country-they-do-things-differently-there/ Thu, 21 Sep 2023 08:21:20 GMT 13176 David Bannister For as long as I can remember, I have enjoyed the work of the Bradford-born artist, David Hockney. Now 86 years old, his work has shown a level of innovation and creativity which I consider to be unmatched.  His perception, use of colour and approach to new media have kept his work fresh and captivating over the years.  He has used various paint types, photography and now the iPad to produce his unique images.  https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2023/get-the-picture/ Thu, 14 Sep 2023 12:43:43 GMT 13168 Stephen White I was a nerd as a teenager. You don’t need to know all the details but one indicator was that my crowning desire was to possess my own copy of Encyclopaedia Britannica. Priced (in the 1970’s) at a staggering £1200 for all 25 volumes it was so far beyond my means that I recognised it was a pipe dream which I would never likely achieve. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2023/flash-keegan/ Thu, 07 Sep 2023 10:45:35 GMT 13160 Stephen White The single most common dilemma facing negotiators is Who Goes First. I know this because it is the most debated issue when we discuss proposal-making with Scotwork participants. The default position of most Northern Europeans and North Americans is to hold back – let the other side pitch first. That way they might propose something even better for me than I was expecting. And if they don’t, nothing lost. That is wrong, for two reasons. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2023/who-goes-first/ Thu, 24 Aug 2023 14:29:51 GMT 13151 Horace McDonald We’ve recently finished watching the 2nd season of The White Lotus, an American black-comedy drama series which follows the guests and employees of the fictional eponymous hotel chain and takes place across a week of new guest arrivals. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2023/the-sooner-the-better/ Thu, 24 Aug 2023 09:49:27 GMT 13148 Ann Parr Feeling rather late to the Party we have finally, as a family, booked tickets to see Barbie this weekend. Breaking box office records, Barbie has grossed over a billion dollars in the 3 weeks since its release - equivalent to almost 10 x its budget. When I was a child the doll I wanted, was not Barbie, but Sindy, its UK equivalent. Yet, while Sindy was essentially de-listed by 1997 Barbie has grown in strength. Undoubtedly, this is in large part due to Mattel’s appetite to create more diverse and inclusive versions of the doll and today there are 176 different types of Barbie. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2023/negotiator-barbie-lessons-from-mattel-s-iconic-success/ Wed, 30 Aug 2023 15:56:25 GMT 13145 David Bannister My tastes in music are very varied but when we sit around the dining table in the evening, my choice is often to listen to the Great American Songbook, that collection of songs and ballads mostly dating back to the 50s.  So, I was very sorry to hear of the recent passing of its greatest exponent, Tony Bennett. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2023/pennies-from-heaven/ Thu, 10 Aug 2023 12:21:18 GMT 13135 Alan Smith Talking to an old mate over the weekend caused me to once again consider the role that luck plays in many aspects of our lives. He told me the unbelievable story of one of his colleagues who he claimed was possibly the unluckiest person he had ever known. It was so bizarre that it had to be true. You certainly could not make it up. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2023/do-you-feel-lucky/ Fri, 28 Jul 2023 13:48:01 GMT 13098 David Bannister In my house, I had, until recently, a large copper tank which contained our hot water supply. Some years ago, I had a “rainwater” shower installed – one of these wonderful things that cascade hot water over you in the morning as you brace yourself to face the day.  This shower’s appetite for hot water meant that I also had to have a special pump installed to deal with the relatively low water pressure in the house. A plumber installed the pump as part of the shower installation and all was well for more than two years until one day an anguished cry from the shower room told me that the pump was no longer working and it had chosen my wife to be the person to experience its failure. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2023/just-plumb-wrong/ Thu, 27 Jul 2023 10:10:52 GMT 13091 Ellis Croft Three word slogans: Labour isn’t working. Britain deserves better. Education, education, education. Take back control. Get Brexit done. Stop the boats. I hate them. With a passion. Such meaningless drivel! Distilled to pointlessness. Why so popular? https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2023/the-not-so-subtle-art-of-persuasion/ Fri, 14 Jul 2023 14:22:52 GMT 13067 Stephen White Summer holidays. The kids want to go to the seaside. Mum also wants sun and sand, plus a bit of pampering – someone else making the beds and cooking the meals. Dad hates the heat and wants to fall out of bed onto a golf course. And he would like change out of £2000. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2023/not-even-in-the-room/ Wed, 30 Aug 2023 13:09:42 GMT 13063 Ellis Croft One of the prerequisites for a negotiation to take place in the first place is that there must be motivation on both sides of the table. In the absence of an answer to the question “What’s in it for me?” there can be no trading. Persuasion may win the day, or there may be a (long) conversation,  perhaps a problem-solving solution might arise, or of course – if one party has enough power – a solution may be imposed. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2023/the-imbalance-of-power/ Thu, 13 Jul 2023 12:55:05 GMT 13032 Alan Smith As any parent will know whilst we are always proud of our kids, they are rarely anything other than blasé about us. I can always remember reading David Cameron’s (Britain’s ex-PM and disastrous engineer of the Brexit referendum, other views may possibly be held) accounts of going home to his young family after attending a G7 with the most important political leaders in the world. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2023/brownie-points/ Thu, 13 Jul 2023 13:29:41 GMT 13010 Ellis Croft The information we have to process – in life and in negotiations – can prove frequently challenging. This is particularly the case where ambiguity intrudes. Occasionally, poor outcomes may arise from acting in good faith on information that later turns out to have been inaccurate. Sometimes this may be due to a simple, unintentional mistake – and after ascertaining whether we can do anything to avoid similar errors in future, we move on. Sometimes, however, it can be more nuanced. What if we have been misled, and worse, deliberately so? https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2023/the-meaning-of-lie/ Thu, 13 Jul 2023 13:04:37 GMT 12998 Alan Smith Time. The ultimate pressure point. The one thing we never have enough of and maybe the most undervalued variable we have to play with in our lives. I guess that’s why we are tempted to misuse it. To waste it perhaps. Or to leap to conclusions without thinking and make a hash of things which may force us to backtrack or unpick poor decisions. Or lose out through misunderstanding or expediency. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2023/think-fast-slowly/ Thu, 13 Jul 2023 13:19:02 GMT 12986 Stephen White ‘If the facts don’t fit the theory change the facts’ is a quote often attributed to Einstein, although it appears nowhere in his published works. Unsurprisingly so, because it is unhelpful nonsense, something Einstein did not specialise in. Unfortunately, it is a concept which is becoming more and more common, as we have seen over the last few days with the saga of Philip Schofield and his second-line casualty Holly Willoughby. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2023/pholly/ Mon, 19 Jun 2023 14:00:47 GMT 12945 Horace McDonald This week represents a milestone in the history of Scotwork UK with the publication of our latest book – ‘Once upon a Deal…’ https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2023/once-upon-a-deal-a-new-chapter-for-scotwork/ Thu, 01 Jun 2023 12:00:02 GMT 12937 The Scotwork Team Only one week left until our book "Once Upon a Deal..." is available! https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2023/one-week-left/ Thu, 25 May 2023 15:00:48 GMT 12933 The Scotwork Team Our newest book, "Once Upon a Deal..." will be available for purchase on May 31st. Get ready to rethink negotiation, and discover practical tips and tricks along the way to build your skill and confidence. The book is available for pre-order, find out more and get your copy here In the book, we explore the 8 Steps of Negotiation through a collection of stories that reveal these principles of negotiation. Here is an example of one of these stories: https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2023/once-upon-a-deal/ Thu, 18 May 2023 08:15:00 GMT 12894 David Bannister Recently, Elon Musk’s interplanetary ambitions were thwarted when his SpaceX starship was launched and very rapidly exploded... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2023/negotiating-space/ Thu, 04 May 2023 14:39:04 GMT 12804 Ann McAleavy Listening to music while in traffic on my drive in this morning, volume high and singing like a diva, I thought of the following nugget of information. Life decisions, personal or business; what we do, to get what we want is all a negotiation! https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2023/so-what-do-you-need/ Thu, 27 Apr 2023 12:43:30 GMT 12792 David Bannister In recent days, we have heard the results of two union ballots in the NHS.  One rejected a pay offer and the other accepted the same pay offer.  The offer promised nurses and other NHS staff represented by UNISON – the union which accepted - and the RCN, which rejected the deal, a pay increase of 5% and a lump sum the size of which depends on grade. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2023/two-important-tactical-negotiating-lessons/ Thu, 20 Apr 2023 10:39:13 GMT 12774 Horace McDonald On Good Friday my wife and I spent most of an afternoon into the late evening hanging out in central London with friends over dinner and a few too many drinks. One was a retired former work colleague (FWC)  who I met very early career and our relationship developed over a mutual love of sport including some very competitive matches on a squash court, yes it was that long ago! https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2023/the-importance-of-being-open/ Tue, 18 Apr 2023 13:49:10 GMT 12709 Stephen White Every reader who has experienced adolescents will be familiar with teenage hyperbole. This normally involves taking a premise and stretching it to an unimaginable extreme, in the hope that the resulting conclusion will influence the parent. I discovered the syndrome as a perpetrator. 16 years old, I told my father that I had to have a pair of winklepickers because ‘everybody wears nothing else’. My father was unmoved. ‘Look down and learn’ he said, pointing to his own respectable black brogues. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2023/hyperbole/ Thu, 20 Jul 2023 15:31:11 GMT 12697 Ann Parr Negotiating as a Woman: Navigating Gender Stereotypes A number of years ago,... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2023/it-s-a-man-s-world/ Thu, 18 May 2023 13:54:26 GMT 12597 Ellis Croft A perennial topic of fascination for negotiators is the question of style – put simply, the manner in which we negotiate. Broadly speaking there are two approaches behaviourally – competitive, or collaborative. They can be influenced by all sorts of factors, such as context, innate preference, learned behaviours, mirroring, the power balance in the relationship – the list goes on. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2023/it-s-not-you-it-s-me/ Thu, 18 May 2023 13:55:01 GMT 12573 David Bannister On the day I began to write this blog, I featured the BBC, specifically the fact that it had decided to disband the BBC Singers, a group which has been in existence for almost a hundred years and which is renowned for its choral excellence and its outreach and diversity activities. According to the BBC, this cancellation would increase its “quality, agility and impact”. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2023/penalty/ Fri, 17 Mar 2023 09:14:35 GMT 12561 Tom Feinson I recently received a letter from my broadband supplier (From now on known as supplier X) telling me that their prices were increasing, and changes were being made to services and pricing terms. To be specific the cost of my broadband was to go up by 40%. I rang supplier X and after selecting half a dozen options I got to the “I’m thinking of leaving queue”. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2023/price-increases/ Thu, 18 May 2023 13:55:24 GMT 12536 Annabel Shorter Way back in my early career as a Castrol Retail Sales representative, I bowled into an account in Dorchester to wow my customer with my latest promotion on Castrol GTX. Ten minutes later I left, holding back tears and biting my lip. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2023/caught-off-guard/ Thu, 18 May 2023 13:55:50 GMT 12527 Ellis Croft The bewildering array of strike action that’s been gathering momentum across sectors over the last year or more has – until now – been characterised by a morbid sense of deadlock. The flexibility that allows us to make deals – and without which we cannot – has been lacking on both sides of the table, and if anything the language used by all parties has tended towards a hardening of position. Most of us would see this as making the resolution of the conflicts less likely, and rightly so. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2023/signal-failure/ Thu, 18 May 2023 13:53:10 GMT 12515 Horace McDonald Having become empty nesters when both our grown-up children left home in the middle of 2022, my wife and I are remodelling the house for different needs, which is something we’ve always enjoyed. We’ve replanned how we are going to use the kids’ bedrooms and some of our furniture is now redundant. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2023/tell-me-why/ Thu, 18 May 2023 13:56:17 GMT 12500 Ellis Croft If you’ll forgive me for surgically removing the romance from Valentine’s Day, there are perhaps a couple of key insights that a curious negotiator might think about in relation to their own deal-making. Firstly... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2023/cupid-s-arrows/ Mon, 13 Feb 2023 15:23:11 GMT 12491 Tom Feinson “So, no swimming or football for the rest of your holiday”. These are the words my seven year old was desperate not to hear - but sadly he did. We were lucky enough to catch... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2023/a-stitch-in-time/ Fri, 03 Feb 2023 14:41:23 GMT 12483 Stephen White After Christmas and New Year, we needed a break. Hosting 4 children and 5 grandchildren for 2 weeks is great fun, very uplifting but exhausting. That is the price that comes with living by the seaside – even in a wet and windy winter, there is a magical attraction. But when they all went home we felt we needed some R&R ourselves. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2023/you-want-it-when/ Mon, 13 Feb 2023 15:15:13 GMT 12459 Ellis Croft Alumni of our courses may sense something familiar about the photo accompanying this blog – a group of sheep, standing forlornly at a shut gate, unable to progress along their chosen path (let’s for a moment ignore the sheep on the right who appears to be considering their options). It’s an example of how obstacles can become impassable – even when they’re not. Negotiators need to be keenly aware of such obstacles, recognising them first before assessing alternative choices. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2023/please-open-the-gate/ Mon, 13 Feb 2023 14:47:31 GMT 12428 David Bannister Prince Harry has complained about that silence in his most recent interview (I read about this, I have not watched it). This moved me to think about silence as a negotiating tactic https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2023/the-sound-of-silence/ Mon, 15 Sep 2025 12:40:57 GMT 12419 Horace McDonald Having emerged from a very challenging two years, I’m sure that many of you had high hopes that 2022 would be a much better and that life would return to what we considered to be normal. The impact of the vaccination programme in many countries meant that we could meet, travel, entertain and work without restriction and whilst the impacts of the pandemic were extremely stark, that certain changes in working practices and the use of technology, would continue to make many people’s everyday lives easier. For me, the fact that democracy has been upheld in the biggest ‘free’ country in the world was also a major step forward. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2022/tis-a-season-to-be-not-so-jolly/ Wed, 21 Dec 2022 10:50:06 GMT 12376 Ann McAleavy As the rail strike scenario appears to be dragging on, there seems to be no let-up in the disruption the RMT are willing to cause.  If the union’s “wants” are too far-fetched and unrealistic, the chances of an agreement seem far from achievable. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2022/a-negotiation-tale/ Fri, 09 Dec 2022 10:02:44 GMT 12366 Stephen White I once pitched for a big contract with a logistics company. The pitch meeting seemed to go fine, the PowerPoint was well received and the questions I was asked contained lots of buying signals. It seemed like... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2022/an-accident-waiting-to-happen/ Thu, 14 Mar 2024 15:32:34 GMT 12356 Stephen White Indignation is a common response in negotiations which go ‘wrong’. I once acted as a mentor to an ingredients buyer for a packaged consumer goods manufacturer. She was concerned that... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2022/indignation/ Thu, 14 Mar 2024 15:38:09 GMT 12348 Stephen White Early in my commercial career selling printed packaging, I found myself in a meeting with a buyer who threatened to take a piece of routine business which my company had supplied for many years and give it to a reputable competitor. The reason, he said, was price – the competitor had quoted a much lower price than ours. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2022/will-i-get-caught/ Mon, 15 Sep 2025 22:28:21 GMT 12322 Andy Archibald Earlier this year, we asked the Scotwork Alumni and blog readers to respond to negotiating dilemmas involving controversial situations. We were interested in decisions made with an ethical dimension which we all must make from time to time during a negotiation. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2022/do-i-or-don-t-i-say/ Mon, 15 Sep 2025 21:31:17 GMT 12301 Stephen White In an interview with HR and Senior Management which might lead to a promotion, your performance is contrasted with a colleague who might also be a contender.  You are aware that your colleague’s behaviour at work has from time to time been neither legally nor morally acceptable in your view, and that management is possibly unaware of this.  Do you refer to your suspicions during the interview?  https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2022/telling-stories/ Mon, 15 Sep 2025 21:29:53 GMT 12277 Ellis Croft As keen students of all things negotiation related (oh, go on then: we’re nerds), a group of us at Scotwork regularly discuss blog topics and what’s going on around us. Responding to my suggestion to write about the “mini” budget sitting at the base of the volcano which recently erupted underneath the Truss government https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2022/proposals-that-take-the-risk/ Thu, 27 Oct 2022 10:56:45 GMT 12270 Horace McDonald The news in the UK has been dominated in recent weeks by, seemingly disastrous economic policy decisions outlined in a mini-budget by the newly elected Prime Minister, Liz Truss and delivered by her short-lived Chancellor Kwasi Kwateng. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2022/it-s-the-economy-stupid/ Thu, 14 Mar 2024 15:41:17 GMT 12250 David Bannister Lionel Messi is arguably one of the best footballers of recent years.  His record includes virtually all the superlatives of the game – record goalscorer, record trophy winner and seven times winner of the Ballon d’Or – football’s equivalent of the best actor Oscar.  https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2022/a-messi-way-to-negotiate/ Thu, 13 Oct 2022 13:36:56 GMT 12242 Ellis Croft There’s a scene in the first “Star Wars” film (Episode IV, of course) in which our heroes are attempting to smuggle a pair of robots past the evil Imperial troops in their escape from space port, Mos Eisley. As luck would have it, one of our heroes is a Jedi master – and hence capable of some pretty impressive tricks, including mind control. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2022/these-are-not-the-droids-you-are-looking-for/ Mon, 07 Aug 2023 12:46:44 GMT 12232 Horace McDonald Some months ago, I wrote a blog about the metaphorical loss of power suffered by Anthony Joshua when he lost a world title heavyweight fight to Ukraine’s (then unfancied) Alexander Usyk. 3 judges score boxing matches and the outcome was a unanimous victory for Usyk. I mentioned that whilst Joshua is an amazing physical specimen (I’ve seen him in the flesh) even in the heavyweight boxing division; size, muscle mass and reach advantages can be outmanoeuvred by boxing guile and craft and Usyk is clearly more skilled in the latter areas. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2022/the-fury-road/ Thu, 29 Sep 2022 10:26:36 GMT 12211 Ann McAleavy We’re all different! The needs of one individual differ from the next; it’s the same in business, rarely does a one size fits all work! https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2022/it-s-a-detail-thing/ Thu, 22 Sep 2022 10:55:47 GMT 12193 Horace McDonald We recently saw the end of the latest Premier League football transfer window, where a UK clubs spent a staggering £1.9bn on new players, the vast majority of which went to overseas. The biggest spender, Chelsea spent over £250m having lost key players to free transfers (mostly overseas) and then sacked their manager a week later and have appointed Graham Potter from Brighton. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2022/money-madness/ Wed, 14 Sep 2022 13:52:53 GMT 12185 Horace McDonald One of the great things about running negotiation training courses is meeting a variety of participants from many different industries and cultures, hearing about their families, personal interests and sometimes making long-term friends. Travel nearly always featured as a personal interest. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2022/inside-room-only/ Thu, 20 Jul 2023 15:37:52 GMT 12178 Ann McAleavy Some years ago, while working in the Signage Merchanting sector, I took a call from a customer, he was a regular and we had spoken several times before.  He asked for a “rough price” for 10 sheets of Aluminium Composite (ACM), to which I replied in my most husky “rough” voice – that’ll be £12 per sheet!  The phone went silent at the other end, then he said, leave it with me and he rang off.  After a short time, the customer phoned back, asked for me and said that no one had ever taken his request so literally and it took him by surprise, but could he now order 20 sheets! https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2022/true-story/ Thu, 01 Sep 2022 11:04:35 GMT 12162 Ellis Croft Writing about my friend’s adventures in securing work in Australia recently, and how she used packaging skills to protect the important elements of her proposal (in this case, her salary!), reminded me that while skilled negotiators can have their cake and eat it, they can also make choices about when to stop eating cake. Our advice to clients... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2022/too-much-cake-not-always-a-good-thing/ Thu, 25 Aug 2022 14:17:44 GMT 12158 Ellis Croft One of the myriad ways in which our childhood negotiation skills are blunted as we grow up is the life lesson that we’re not always going to get what we want. While that’s sound advice and true, in negotiation terms it tends to form unnecessary and bad habits when it comes to how we respond to the other party saying “no” – the tendency to assume it’s because we’ve asked for too much, or offered too little, can become automatic. That means we trade value before or instead of exploring alternative possibilities as to why the other party might have turned our proposal down. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2022/having-your-cake-and-eating-it/ Thu, 18 Aug 2022 12:03:40 GMT 12148 David Bannister I am a regular reader of a magazine called “The Week”.  Published in the UK every Friday it summarises news and events published in media from around the world during the previous week.  It has business and arts pages, too.  One of its regular features is a column featuring quotations called “Wit and Wisdom”  I always read the column, sometimes the quotations don’t register with me and sometimes one or more cause me to think or, perhaps, chuckle.  This week, I noted three: https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2022/a-word-to-the-wise/ Mon, 07 Aug 2023 10:41:55 GMT 12141 Stephen White The tension in the room was palpable, although the tone of the meeting had been polite; almost too polite. Both sides had made their final positions very clear and there was a chasm which looked unbridgeable. The Buyer needed to protect the millions of shoppers who relied on his supermarkets for affordable food. The Seller knew that the catastrophic increase in the cost of ingredients and energy meant that without a substantial price increase his manufacturing company could go out of business and thousands of jobs would be at risk. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2022/tension/ Fri, 29 Jul 2022 09:17:35 GMT 12115 Ann Parr I recently got chatting with a participant on a course around our mutual love of dogs. Both being the new families of relatively young dogs we shared the ups and downs of dog ownership. Photos were exchanged and eyes were rolled, in mutual understanding of the midnight trips to the garden, but all in all it was clear that we were both besotted with our canine chums.  https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2022/it-s-a-dogs-life/ Tue, 02 Aug 2022 12:28:32 GMT 12111 Alan Smith As my grandma used to say, I like it warm, but this is too warm. The UK looks like it’s about to hit an all-time high temperature record of 42 degrees, in Doncaster of all places! Even the weather reporter was shocked that a northern town would snatch this dubious honour from the normally sunnier south. Seems like levelling up is working after all, even if Boris Johnson didn’t quite mean it in this way. (Did anyone actually figure out what Boris meant? Answers on a post card). https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2022/feeling-hot-hot-hot/ Mon, 15 Sep 2025 14:11:32 GMT 12096 Horace McDonald Last week I had the pleasure of spending a glorious week on the Atlantic coast south of Lisbon with my wife. My daughter joined us on our 3rd day, as she was performing at the Nos Alive festival on Lisbon at the end of the week, which we attended. Much as I’m meant to be an expert in negotiation,... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2022/and-we-re-off/ Mon, 15 Sep 2025 20:43:39 GMT 12086 Andy Archibald Recently, I was away camping and hiking on the beautiful coast of northwest Scotland. The weather was a bit wet and wild; the wind at times was so strong it felt like someone very big was falling onto my tent and it was only a matter of time before it blew away with me still inside. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2022/fail-to-prepare-then-prepare-to-fail/ Mon, 15 Sep 2025 20:18:07 GMT 12074 Ellis Croft The RMT’s strike action has been very much front and centre of recent news reports – and understandably so, given how many of us are affected by them. One way of looking at this would be to probe each party’s objectives, constraints, motives and tactics to see how an effective negotiated settlement might be achieved. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2022/rmt-s-strike-action/ Mon, 15 Sep 2025 15:20:42 GMT 12016 Andy Archibald When in a negotiation, there are two crucial considerations. The first is the costs of negotiating compared to the costs of deadlock. The second is what will motivate the other side to negotiate. Both are on show this week as we navigate the largest rail strike in 30 years. The two parties... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2022/another-one-strikes-the-dust/ Wed, 27 Jul 2022 08:44:17 GMT 12012 David Bannister My step-daughter and her husband, who is one of our Scotwork alumni, are busy people and they lease their cars, which they use every day for work, for three years and then change them. They have been Volkswagen drivers for some time. When the time came to... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2022/when-the-wheels-come-off/ Mon, 15 Sep 2025 12:27:16 GMT 12005 Ann McAleavy I was recently at an event that gave companies like ours the opportunity to engage with potential clients within a forum setting; suppliers are present to provide information on their product or service and the delegates choose which product or service is relevant to their business… a bit like speed dating for business. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2022/listen-and-learn/ Mon, 15 Sep 2025 22:29:21 GMT 11995 Ellis Croft Those of you who follow the beautiful game will currently be somewhere on the spectrum characterised by a bereft gloom at one end as the season disappears into memory and a welcome break from it all at the other. One of the “traditional” (which appears to mean anything that’s become a regular feature since the Premier League’s inception in 1992/93, but that’s another story) sources of enjoyment – or tension – is the relegation dogfight. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2022/celebrate-good-times/ Mon, 15 Sep 2025 13:59:03 GMT 11979 Horace McDonald Some years ago, I met a Mergers and Acquisition specialist who worked for a multinational PLC. Their job was to assess acquisition targets, weigh them up, assess strategic fit and make recommendations on suitability of a purchase. It seems very interesting challenging and demanding work in which requires high levels of analysis and some degree of intuition. Businesses doing deals on this scale pay vast amounts of money to professional advisers as the nature of these deals are often very complex, and negotiations drawn out and often finalised in a rush to satisfy the deadlines of the market. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2022/precision-blindness/ Fri, 05 Aug 2022 11:37:47 GMT 11973 David Bannister Here in the UK we are constantly hearing from our media the stories now christened “Partygate” – where the Prime Minister is under police investigation for attending, amongst other things a gathering during lockdown to give him a cake on his birthday and “Beergate” where the Leader of the Opposition is also being investigated by police for drinking a beer and eating a curry with others late at night following an election rally also during lockdown. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2022/drink-a-beer-and-lose-control/ Mon, 15 Sep 2025 21:45:37 GMT 11960 Keith Stacey A friend emerged from a bakery carrying a small packet of mixed sandwiches - you know, the sort they give you in hospital recovery rooms. There are variations on the theme, but there is usually one ham and pickle, one cheese and lettuce, one tomato, one curried egg and of course… a tuna sandwich, which must be everybody's’ least favourite.   https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2022/what-to-do-with-a-tuna-sandwich/ Fri, 05 Aug 2022 11:48:30 GMT 11934 Stephen White Friends of mine on their way to an Easter break in Portugal were prevented from checking in at Gatwick because one of their passports had technically expired. They had fallen foul of the ‘new’ regulation imposed on UK citizens by the EU which determines validity from the date a passport is issued, not the date it expires. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2022/proactivity/ Fri, 05 Aug 2022 11:51:56 GMT 11932 Andy Archibald Many years ago, when I was managing partner relationships for a supplier in the UK energy sector, a partner began a meeting by saying, "we need an increased price discount!" I was no stranger to challenging requests at partner meetings. The UK energy sector... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2022/did-someone-leave-the-towel-rail-on/ Mon, 15 Sep 2025 12:24:46 GMT 11924 Horace McDonald Last week my wife and I spent a few days in the Shropshire countryside. We were invited as guests of her sister and her husband who had been unable to celebrate their respective 60th birthdays due to the pandemic. They had rented a very nice big house to accommodate their blended family and the two of us. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2022/car-trouble/ Mon, 15 Sep 2025 15:22:20 GMT 11919 Ellis Croft My 5 year old daughter loves the original Mary Poppins film, which is great because it’s a fondly remembered slice of my childhood as well. My favourite part of the film is the final song – Let’s Go Fly a Kite – which ties together both story and the more complex narrative around familial relationships, with a rousing melody to boot. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2022/let-s-go-fly-a-kite/ Mon, 07 Aug 2023 10:45:43 GMT 11908 Andy Archibald The removal of 800 P&O Ferries staff quite rightly continues to make the headlines, given the extraordinary impact it will have on those now looking for new employment and the even more extraordinary admission by the company that it knowingly failed to comply with a requirement to consult with trade unions. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2022/to-negotiate-or-not/ Mon, 15 Sep 2025 13:07:11 GMT 11901 Yannis Dimarakis In my several years of work as a negotiation consultant, I have finally come to realize what every layman already knows. A lose – lose outcome is problematic from any viewpoint one wishes to take. Obviously, this is the situation in the Russia – Ukraine conflict. There is not much debate about that. However, there is another, more disturbing angle that escapes the attention of most of us, sitting in the comfort of our (usually) warm homes. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2022/can-someone-call-a-negotiator-asap-please-why-putin-s-war-is-even-more-dangerous-than-most-people-think/ Fri, 05 Aug 2022 12:14:37 GMT 11896 Horace McDonald Some weeks ago, I went out with a very old friend with whom I shared best man duties at each other’s weddings. Despite both growing up (separately) in South-East London, we now live in West London, pretty close to one another. My friend’s heritage is a mix of an Asian-Trinidadian and Irish and perhaps not surprising, our evening comprised a couple of beers (I prefer Guinness and he Peroni) in a local Irish pub and followed by a meal at a local Indian restaurant. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2022/currying-favour/ Mon, 15 Sep 2025 14:12:09 GMT 11890 Annabel Shorter This International Women’s Day we can think of no other women to salute and stand by more fiercely than those of Ukraine. Those women who are demonstrating the most immense courage and resilience in the face of their aggressors. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2022/international-women-s-day-one-big-push/ Mon, 15 Sep 2025 09:02:05 GMT 11877 Andy Archibald While looking through LinkedIn, I came across a post commenting about a Scottish Government proposal to consider spending £300,000 cutting the bottom off 2,000 classroom doors in Scotland to improve ventilation to combat the spread of Covid. It is not the proposal itself or whether it will actually happen that interested me, but the explanation that followed.  https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2022/can-t-explain-won-t-explain/ Mon, 15 Sep 2025 21:48:59 GMT 11870 Ann McAleavy Let me set the scene! It’s a Saturday night out, you’re heading into town for dinner at the new fashionable eatery; then drinks at your favourite bar and then if you're still standing you head to a club to dance into the wee small hours. At every stage, you hail a taxi and then on the last stretch you book or hail your TAXI home! Over the next few years,... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2022/taxi/ Mon, 15 Sep 2025 14:49:54 GMT 11859 David Bannister You can tell that Spring is in the air when you get out the paintbrushes and tins of Farrow and Ball and start to “freshen up” the house after the winter.  Like many people, I have recently walked around my own home and noted things to do.  Recently I decided to have a new fence and gate leading to the side of the house and also to replace the back door with a composite version. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2022/the-gateway-to-a-deal-and-the-door-of-opportunity/ Mon, 15 Sep 2025 22:23:47 GMT 11853 Ann McAleavy Over the past year or so, life has been very different for much of the world. The experience of COVID 19 - The Pandemic has had a definite impact on how we have lived our lives.  The normal we once took for granted was spun on its head leaving us disoriented and searching for new things to occupy the time. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2022/tv-or-not-tv/ Mon, 15 Sep 2025 14:50:34 GMT 11841 Alan Smith One of the most oft questions I get asked about negotiating is what do I do if the other side doesn’t appear interested in negotiating with me? I want to talk or deal with them, but all I get is at worst radio silence and at best avoidance, they dance around and redirect me into areas they wish to discuss. I begin by asking them a series of questions. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2022/spotify-the-opportunity/ Mon, 15 Sep 2025 23:09:12 GMT 11824 Horace McDonald I’m a bit of a sports nut. Despite being in my late 50s, I'm still playing 11-a-side football (thankfully mostly with men of my age) and still trying to keep up with my 21 year old son and rapidly improving 24 year old daughter on a tennis court. You won't be surprised to hear that my body isn't able to do now what I could do when I was my son’s age, so I have to take care to stretch and manage my hips due to some arthritis, it’s no fun getting older! https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2022/the-joshua-fee/ Mon, 15 Sep 2025 14:09:41 GMT 11817 Andy Archibald New year, new me. No doubt that's the mantra for many of us as we get 2022 underway in earnest. And for many, that may also involve a change in their career. With that in mind, the question of what impact the past 18-months has had on the employer and would-be employee negotiations is something I'm curious about. And while reading an article on this, I was reminded of Jerry Maguire, the film from the 90s. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2022/don-t-just-show-me-the-money-show-me-the-flexible-working-too/ Mon, 15 Sep 2025 21:58:20 GMT 11809 Ellis Croft Inflation. Supply chain pressures. The war for talent. Scarcity. Energy costs. The factors driving prices north are all around us as we start the year. It might not be the most exciting of topics – we’re all trying to ignore the news about our utility bills, or is that just me? - but put it this way: the price of Hobnobs is likely to increase this year, and by more than 5%. If you’re one of... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2022/do-you-really-say-it-best-when-you-say-nothing-at-all/ Mon, 08 Aug 2022 09:36:29 GMT 11802 Alan Smith The British Ambassador was being interviewed by the main TV channel in his host country about several live issues concerning the challenges that were being faced by the nation and how Britain as a friendly neighbour saw them. After all, as a country famous for diplomacy, democracy and fair play his view was both sage and valued. Coming to the end of... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2021/what-do-you-want-for-christmas/ Thu, 16 Dec 2021 13:33:22 GMT 11776 Ann McAleavy Since I started working at Scotwork, I have heard the words negotiate, negotiating, negotiations much more than I thought was possible! I can liken it to the following scenarios - on a diet, you see and think food! You've broken up with your partner - you see couples offers, adverts on dating; my job is to sell the courses on negotiation skills training so you will get the gist. Over the past fortnight,... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2021/all-3-parts/ Fri, 04 Aug 2023 15:21:45 GMT 11759 Andy Archibald Last week, I read a quote describing Scotland as a photographer's paradise. I could not agree more. I love the west coast in particular, not only for its beautiful scenery but seemingly endless experiences too. Growing up on the east coast of Scotland, I did not... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2021/say-what-you-want/ Thu, 02 Dec 2021 13:26:34 GMT 11737 David Bannister One of the opportunities to negotiate which we all have from time to time is when we choose to make a complaint.  The simple advice, if you are making the complaint, is that you should say what would put it right and if you are receiving the complaint, ask the complainant what you can do to take the issue away for them. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2021/meat-customer-services/ Thu, 25 Nov 2021 12:37:28 GMT 11729 Ellis Croft Today, there is plenty of coverage of Amazon’s decision to cease taking payment from UK-issued Visa credit cards as of January 19th 2022. According to Amazon, this is a response to Visa UK’s decision to increase its transaction fees (one of the freedoms they enjoy as a result of Brexit). On the face of it, those currently shopping at Amazon with their UK-issued Visa will have two months or so to find an alternative method of payment if they want to continue to use the platform in the new year. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2021/from-a-to-v/ Wed, 17 Nov 2021 16:45:01 GMT 11723 Ann McAleavy There are so many topics for conversation when you listen to the news, read the gossip columns or are having a chat with your friend, that picking one to delve further into is a difficult choice!  The "Hybrid" office is a hot topic.  Offices and business spaces are lying empty worldwide, yet business has not stopped!! Why?  Because we are working from home! The success of... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2021/the-home-office/ Thu, 11 Nov 2021 14:18:31 GMT 11722 David Bannister I was recently required, as part of my responsibilities as a director of Scotwork International, to undertake an online training programme to teach me about “unconscious bias”.  I am proud of... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2021/i-confess-to-conscious-bias-training-works/ Thu, 28 Oct 2021 12:10:30 GMT 11711 Horace McDonald A frequent tennis partner of mine asked me to comment on a recently published article in the Guardian suggesting that AI and Maths will play a bigger role in international diplomacy in the future. Despite being a life-long Guardian reader, I’d missed the article as most of my consumption is now at the weekend, whilst sitting in bed with a cup of coffee. One of the great benefits of no longer having to run around after young children. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2021/the-computer-says-no/ Tue, 26 Oct 2021 11:09:12 GMT 11705 Horace McDonald One of the key failings in negotiation is that people underestimate the value of their concessions by valuing them from their perspective rather than from the other party’s. Core to successful negotiation is mutual value creation where both parties trade low cost for high value. Experienced negotiators understand the importance of valuing their concessions on the basis of their importance to the other party and conceding low-cost items in return for items that are high value to them. Simply put, you try to take more than you give, whilst recognising that the other party will try to do the same. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2021/less-for-more/ Thu, 14 Oct 2021 10:01:11 GMT 11670 David Bannister Like many of us, I am a frequent online purchaser and in these difficult times, my use of internet shopping has increased.  I don’t particularly enjoy shops and, where I can, I like the idea of stabbing the keys on my keyboard, ticking the PayPal box or confirming my details with Amazon and waiting for the doorbell to ring heralding the arrival of my purchases. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2021/embrace-your-inner-flamingo/ Mon, 07 Aug 2023 12:48:17 GMT 11110 Alan Smith On a flight from Glasgow, I came across an article in the in-flight magazine about how to make more effective use of persuasion to get what we want out of life, business and family relationships. Warming advice indeed. The basic premise is that it is much more powerful to surround our persuasion with strong rationale in order to get people to do what we want them to do. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2021/the-art-of-persuasion/ Thu, 30 Sep 2021 10:58:23 GMT 11106 Andy Archibald Many who participate in our negotiation skills programmes often tell me they don't feel like they have any power in a negotiation. And I always say to them that's not true. Having power in a negotiation is having something the other side wants or wants to avoid. Or put another way, having incentives or sanctions.  https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2021/i-ve-got-the-power-or-do-i/ Thu, 23 Sep 2021 11:33:25 GMT 11100 Horace McDonald One of the unexpected outcomes from the changes we’ve all had to endure in recent months is the move to outdoor dining. Having spent a fair amount of time in cities in many parts of the world, one of my favourite things to do is to sit in an outdoor cafe sipping coffee whilst watching the world go by. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2021/dining-dilemma/ Wed, 15 Sep 2021 14:56:29 GMT 11096 Alan Smith It’s never easy to be a politician, and particularly over the last 18 months with the pandemic to deal with it, must have been even worse. Not that I have much time for them to be honest, all as bad as each other as my mum used to say. That said two things this week have caught my eye that frankly as a professional negotiator are worthy of attention. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2021/never-say-never/ Thu, 09 Sep 2021 13:02:49 GMT 11088 David Bannister Some years ago when I was early in my independent consulting career, I won a substantial piece of work with a prestigious international client in manufacturing.  I and my associates were to produce a set of 9 training modules to help their leadership development group to work with the business’s technical development teams to become better at virtual working in all its aspects.  This company had global development teams working collaboratively and sharing expertise across many different countries; this was facilitated through virtual meetings held in specially equipped facilities in their offices long before the word Zoom had got further than the Batman comics! https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2021/do-you-want-a-cake-or-just-a-slice-of-cake/ Mon, 15 Sep 2025 08:54:18 GMT 11082 Alan Smith A series on the BBC Radio 2 program hosted by Jeremy Vine explores what makes us human. In this innovative series, guests are asked to deliver their thoughts on the essence of human existence, reflecting on their own lives. There have been some wonderful... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2021/what-makes-us-human/ Thu, 26 Aug 2021 12:44:52 GMT 11078 Ann McAleavy As I sit at my desk, gazing out the window looking at the powder blue sky, sun shining, and see the green trees waving in the wind, it's an idyllic picture. We have had balmy summer nights of late, though, living in Scotland it is not unusual to have all seasons in one day and minutes apart!  It's a far cry from the... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2021/motivated-to-get-things-done/ Thu, 19 Aug 2021 11:46:26 GMT 11072 Horace McDonald Much like the rest of the nation, having gorged on the Euro 2020 and despite it taking only a day to get over the disappointment of England (inevitably) losing the final to Italy on penalties, I took a brief pause before similarly indulging myself in the Olympics – Tokyo 2020. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2021/high-bar-of-collaboration/ Wed, 11 Aug 2021 14:57:15 GMT 11066 David Bannister As the UK left the EU, one of the great sticking points was the border between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic – all borders with the EU which are not with other EU countries impose checks on goods entering the EU and may levy duties and charges. Something like... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2021/the-wars-of-the-sausages-the-challenge-of-selling-a-sandwich-in-belfast/ Thu, 05 Aug 2021 12:53:10 GMT 11062 Stephen White We live by the seaside and every year we rent a beach hut from the Council during the school holiday period, always popular with our various family members with children who visit during the summer. We took possession last week. This year we have a small problem, and I’ve been thinking about the best way to solve it – your ideas would be welcome https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2021/staycation-blues/ Thu, 29 Jul 2021 10:39:07 GMT 11058 Horace McDonald The Department of Culture, Media and Sport have recently been looking at music streaming to determine whether the revenue generated is split appropriately between content creators, content owners and broadcasters. Submissions were invited from the Digital Service Providers (DSPs) themselves, artists, songwriters, managers, performers, record labels and collection societies, and the DCMS published their findings last week. The top-line view is that more money should flow to creators and performers. Having a daughter who is a singer/songwriter signed to a major record label, it was certainly an outcome I read with interest. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2021/music-to-my-ears/ Thu, 22 Jul 2021 11:07:13 GMT 11052 Andy Archibald In March this year, one story grabbed the news headlines (other than Covid, or who is sleeping around or backstabbing at 10 Downing Street), and that was the stranded container ship in the Suez Canal in Egypt. As a reminder, a massive container ship blocked the waterway connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea and disrupted global trade for six days.  https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2021/stuck-in-the-canal-with-you/ Thu, 15 Jul 2021 10:18:51 GMT 11048 Horace McDonald On a recent night out, I brought up the subject of the much-publicised race between Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos to get a spaceship into space. In bringing forward his first trip aboard Virgin Galactic to July 11, Branson is aiming to beat Bezos by 9 days and is quoted as saying that ‘I truly believe that space belongs to all of us’, which stands in stark contrast with the fact that the third seat on the Bezos Blue Origin has been sold to the highest bidder for... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2021/space-race/ Thu, 08 Jul 2021 10:08:13 GMT 11044 John McMillan Governments are making promises about green energy and reducing their carbon footprint.  Here in Scotland this often means erecting wind turbines across the landscape. Whatever your view of these, my issue is with the UK governments approach to subsidising these. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2021/tilting-at-windmills/ Thu, 01 Jul 2021 10:46:15 GMT 10094 Horace McDonald As a business that has made the bulk of its revenues from delivering Face to Face training, Scotwork had to pivot to virtual in early 2020 as it became apparent that Face to Face would be ‘out of bounds' for a considerable period of time. Like many areas of change in the last year, the pandemic has massively accelerated change that has been in the offing for some time, out of which there have been many winners (Amazon, Supermarkets, Delivery Businesses) and losers (Department Stores, Airlines, Hotels). https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2021/back-to-the-home-office/ Thu, 24 Jun 2021 13:11:27 GMT 10089 Alan Smith That’s just not cricket. As a member of the MCC, my father-in-law was very disappointed to get a son-in-law like me who had no interest at all in the thwack of leather on willow that is the archetypical sound of an English summer. I have always found... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2021/that-s-not-cricket/ Thu, 17 Jun 2021 12:12:10 GMT 9891 Andy Archibald A summer of sporting events is nearly upon us, and as a fellow Scot, I am looking forward to Wimbledon in particular, hopeful that Andy Murray can roll back the years and have a strong tournament in what has been an incredible career.   Earlier in the year, I took... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2021/does-a-training-coach-need-to-have-been-a-better-player/ Fri, 04 Aug 2023 15:38:54 GMT 9868 Horace McDonald The football season has just drawn to a close in England. Two teams with names beginning with L experienced highly contrasting last-day fortunes with Liverpool putting together a late run of form to finish 3rd and guarantee their place in the financially rewarding Champions League, whilst Leicester City have gone from heroes a week ago (by beating Chelsea in the FA Cup Final) to conspiring to lose at home to Spurs (having led twice) to finish 5th (thus missing out on a Champions League spot) for the 2nd consecutive season. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2021/is-kane-able/ Mon, 07 Aug 2023 12:54:19 GMT 9865 Romana Henry I love language. It’s my thing, has been since I was a kid. Hopeless at math or science but oh how I love language.  My maternal grandparents came to Scotland penniless between the wars, opened a ‘Gelateria’ and made the most delicious ice cream and enough money to have their 6 children educated privately!  Rather than ‘Macari’s’ ice cream shop, they had to name it ‘The Soda Fountain’ as when WW2 hit, the ‘Tallys’ as we were known, were not always in favour with the Scots thanks to Mussolini, and Italian shops were vandalised on a regular basis.  My Nonno was whipped away to a prisoner of war camp on the Isle of Man for 2 years (he loved it there!) leaving Nonna to fend for herself and look after the family. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2021/mind-your-language/ Thu, 27 May 2021 11:17:00 GMT 9773 Stephen White The Government finds itself in trouble yet again in three unrelated areas, all involving their confusion between reliance and compliance. What lessons can be learnt? Firstly, the traffic light system adopted to regulate foreign travel... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2021/relying-and-complying/ Thu, 20 May 2021 10:38:49 GMT 9753 Romana Henry Golfing (badly) with my chum on Sunday evening, I asked what the week ahead at work held for her.  She works for a charity that looks after children with severe autism, their parents, and carers, providing them with vital respite, amongst other things.  They, like all charities, have had a terrible year through the pandemic not only with the lack of donations and funding but staffing issues with sickness and people self-isolating resulting in many parents and carers not getting the much-needed support this charity provides. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2021/bad-golf/ Thu, 13 May 2021 11:26:39 GMT 9746 Horace McDonald At a recent webinar run by Scotwork North America, one of the participants talked about the importance of building one’s own village. In a personal context, this relates to the group cultivated to support you in times of need. All businesses exist in a wider context and in a similar vein are connected to other businesses and interest groups. They may be stakeholders, shareholders, investors, customers, suppliers and the communities in which they operate. In many ways, these entities comprise their village. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2021/village-football/ Thu, 06 May 2021 11:39:11 GMT 9742 Horace McDonald Much has been written about how the lockdown has impacted younger people both in terms of work opportunities and the lack of engagement with colleagues to develop the key work relationships so vital in the early stages of their careers. The last year has also put huge pressure on social relationships, particularly those of younger people who are in new relationships, or those who have only recently started cohabiting. A good friend of mine... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2021/a-van-story/ Thu, 29 Apr 2021 11:19:41 GMT 9174 David Bannister First of all, a statement of interest – I love Football and I have been a passionate fan of Manchester United for more decades than I will admit.  I sat in my lounge on Sunday to watch the game between my team and Burnley on television (we won 3-1) and was immediately regaled by their former captain, Gary Neville, now a  sports commentator who was holding forth very disapprovingly on a move by six English clubs to join a European Super League (ESL for short) which had been announced that day. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2021/the-beautiful-game-dreams-of-avarice/ Thu, 22 Apr 2021 12:45:35 GMT 9168 David Bannister I read a recent letter to the “Times” newspaper which told of a man who no longer wanted a piano he owned.  He put it on the driveway to his house with a sign on it indicating it would be available free to a good home.  No takers.  So he changed the sign to say “piano for sale - £100”.  It was stolen overnight. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2021/be-a-negotiator-tinkle-the-ivories/ Thu, 15 Apr 2021 13:26:58 GMT 9167 Romana Henry Last Friday I was happy to be given the Astra Zeneca vaccine.  Delighted to report no side effects other than a sore arm, quite a relief after many friends reported high temperatures, shivers, headaches and generally feeling terrible for 2 days after the vaccine. Our much-loved former au pair... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2021/sorry/ Thu, 08 Apr 2021 12:52:11 GMT 7473 Alan Smith I was in conversation with a distant family member on Facebook, quite distant to be honest, as, I suspect, you will see. Now I have had my COVID vaccine, Astra Zeneca vintage. Little bit off colour for a couple of days after but delighted to be potentially safe from harm and indeed safe from harming others although I have to admit to a little confusion over whether I could still be a carrier. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2021/to-vax-or-antivax-that-is-the-question/ Thu, 01 Apr 2021 13:13:30 GMT 7470 David Bannister My wife and I are food enthusiasts: we love to eat, to cook and to explore things culinary at all opportunities.  We watch cookery programmes on television and have recently started to follow this year’s “Masterchef” competition where amateur cooks compete and are judged on their skills.  The competition is in a knockout format where about 20 cooks are eventually reduced to a final three competitors through increasingly challenging cooking tasks which test and showcase their individual skills.  This week was the first of the quarter-finals where 4 cooks from an original 10 competed and were judged and only two emerge to go to the next round.  Next week... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2021/master-chef/ Thu, 25 Mar 2021 12:14:06 GMT 7462 Romana Henry When we ask our clients about the negotiating challenges, we get an array of answers ranging from - ‘we want to establish a common approach to our negotiations, we want our people to feel more confident and in control of their negotiations, we need to improve our margins, we give too much away’.  When we probe for more detail, a common theme is that of their negotiators fearing rejection, when the other party says... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2021/lycra-leggings/ Thu, 18 Mar 2021 14:37:48 GMT 7440 The Scotwork Team The International Women’s Day 2021 campaign theme is #ChooseToChallenge A challenged world is an alert world. Individually, we're all responsible for our own thoughts and actions - all day, every day. We can all choose to challenge and call out gender bias and inequality. How can we challenge gender bias and inequality at the negotiation table? https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2021/international-women-s-day-an-interview-with-annabel-shorter/ Thu, 20 Jul 2023 15:42:45 GMT 7427 Alan Smith The word ‘argue’ conjures up an array of combative, formidable words and an energetic use of persuasion, logic and facts, to bolster our view of the world, and convince others that we are not only right, but that they must be a fool to think anything else. If you want to get all philosophical about it, which my wife claims is when she knows it is time to switch off,... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2021/is-this-the-right-room-for-an-argument/ Thu, 04 Mar 2021 11:54:34 GMT 7423 Romana Henry The global pandemic has, and will continue, to change our world in so many ways. Don’t know about you but I cannot imagine how we will ever go back to indoor cinema visits, concerts and festivals, night clubs (for my kids!), rugby and football matches.  I’m sure we will but also think everything will be done rather differently, hopefully for the better. Unlike many, I love change! The annual International Edinburgh Festival was one of many... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2021/cash-or-card/ Thu, 25 Feb 2021 13:41:10 GMT 7396 Stephen White Last week Bill Michael the CEO of one of the leading accounting/consulting firms in the UK fell on his sword after a video clip was circulated on social media. The video shows him... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2021/unconscious-bias/ Fri, 19 Feb 2021 09:36:44 GMT 7385 Alan Smith The one thing that you can say about Donald Trump, and let’s be honest we could talk for days about his mentality, methods and practice, is that he acts on instinct. Makes decisions fast, and is driven principally by his emotions. In many regards that... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2021/6-second-delay/ Thu, 11 Feb 2021 11:33:55 GMT 7365 David Bannister “Words that do not match deeds are not important” - Che Guevara I am not feeling at my best as I sit here and write.  The reason is that yesterday, I was one of about 300,000 people in the UK who received a COVID vaccination and now I have mild side effects.  But I don’t mind.  https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2021/words-and-deeds/ Thu, 04 Feb 2021 14:38:38 GMT 7361 Alan Smith What a world we all live in. My wife has taken to switching off the news, and to be honest I’m not surprised. January is a depressing month at the best of times. Bills to pay for the excess of Christmas, rain, grey days, dark in the morning and evening, very little to look forward to, certainly as I will not be able to take my now customary break in the sun in Feb half term. On top of that... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2021/quite-right-too/ Thu, 28 Jan 2021 13:23:30 GMT 7333 Stephen White Life is dominated by COVID. Almost to the exclusion of anything else. We are being scared out of our wits by the media in order to ram home the message that times are dark, the world is a very dangerous place,  and our best bet is to STAY AT HOME. Increasingly there are cases of infection among our circles of friends, family and colleagues. We know more and more people who have been really ill, or maybe even have tragically died as a result of the virus. So when my phone rang at 4.50 this morning I was preconditioned to expect that the news would be bad. It was. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2021/bitter/ Thu, 21 Jan 2021 11:07:31 GMT 7310 Robin Copland I was talking to a friend of mine recently. He is a farmer on the outskirts of Edinburgh. His farm... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2021/brexit/ Thu, 14 Jan 2021 13:33:34 GMT 7290 David Bannister A few weeks ago I wrote a blog here about goodwill featuring the owner of a caravan site where I had a static caravan: “Goodwill hunting – the story of Jane’s cakes”.  I decided to sell that caravan and to move to a new and better location in the beautiful Yorkshire Dales.  We have kept in touch with friends we made there and have been speaking to them recently. Before I relate the story, however, let me... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/negotiation-skills-training-blog-2021/trust-and-truth/ Fri, 08 Jan 2021 11:09:13 GMT 7250 Alan Smith The older I get the more I think I might be turning into a Grinch! Christmas is really not the same without family, and this year because of the restrictions it is unlikely that my extended family will have the opportunity to get together. Puts a bit of a dampener on the whole event. Season’s greetings indeed. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2020/does-christmas-destroy-value-a-giver-s-guide/ Thu, 17 Dec 2020 11:30:05 GMT 7210 Robin Copland There is a theme that has almost become part of the UK government’s DNA at the moment; it comes under the heading, “fast and loose”.  Everything seems to be just a bit unrehearsed; the government seems almost to be playing it by ear – and not just in its handling of the global pandemic; let’s face it, everyone is up against it as far as handling that nightmare is concerned. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2020/brexit-denouement/ Thu, 10 Dec 2020 16:06:25 GMT 6959 David Bannister Like many people I have a hobby – I am a woodturner and have worked hard over the past few years to become proficient.  I make clocks, bowls, platters, pens and other things which I sell at craft fairs or give as gifts to friends and family.  I am a... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2020/mind-what-you-say/ Thu, 03 Dec 2020 11:19:12 GMT 6870 Alan Smith Don’t want to!!! Light at the end of the tunnel? Hope so, and not a train coming the other way. The revelation in the last few days about the success of not just one,... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2020/not-going-to/ Mon, 30 Nov 2020 11:09:23 GMT 6849 Alan Smith I’m getting terribly bored of lockdown now. Whilst I am very lucky to live in a reasonably sized house with a garden in the countryside, I am tired of my own company (not surprising I hear you cry). Gyms shut, sports club shut and only so many dog walks you can take. But an upside for me has been the discovery of... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2020/what-did-you-expect/ Mon, 30 Nov 2020 10:59:32 GMT 6847 Alan Smith Having now run a significant number of virtual negotiation sessions, one of the core questions I get asked is how will the world of negotiation be impacted by our inability to get face to face with the other side(s), and what can we do to make negotiation more effective in this new world. After all, this is not new. Even before COVID, communication has... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2020/it-s-a-virtual/ Mon, 30 Nov 2020 10:56:29 GMT 6845 Stephen White Only hours after the publication of the EHRC Report on Anti-Semitism in the Labour Party Jeremy Corbyn issued a statement distancing himself from the findings in that report and claiming that the problem had been exaggerated by factions inside and outside the Party and by the media. As a result, he was suspended from the Party. The following day his close allies suggested that he was preparing to sue the Party to get the suspension overturned. Only hours after voting closed in the US Presidential elections,... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2020/telling-stories/ Mon, 30 Nov 2020 10:54:17 GMT 6843 David Bannister My wife is currently involved as an executor in the finalising of an estate and recently this has involved the sale of a house. As you do, she engaged three estate agents to value the property and then chose one of them to act on behalf of her and the other executors involved. The estate agent selected... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2020/be-careful-what-you-ask-for/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:27:50 GMT 3368 Stephen White In 1982 my wife and I almost bought a house. My job required me to move to the South Coast. We found a property we liked, not least because it was called The White House, very appropriate given my name. The asking price was £75,000. It was in need of considerable modernisation, and we offered £68,000. The seller indignantly turned us down, and made no counter-proposal, so we looked elsewhere. It was a buyer’s market, and there were lots of suitable properties, but none had quite the appeal of the White House. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2020/tiers-and-tears/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:27:50 GMT 3366 Alan Smith I have no political aspirations whatsoever. Never have had. Didn’t even want to stand for the school council, till the teacher told me I’d get out of lessons and free chocolate biscuits. I think to want to be a politician reveals deep and tragic personality flaws. Of the ‘please like me’, type. I’m sure that many start with high ideals, which get knocked out of them by the sheer boredom of endless meetings and discussions about planning permission and parking permits. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2020/butcher-baker-deal-maker/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:27:49 GMT 3364 Robin Copland The Right Honourable, the Baroness Kennedy of the Shaws, QC, FRSA, HonFRSE is a very serious person not only in legal and academic circles, but also as an active politician and member of the Labour party. Lest you think that she is a party apparatchik, let it be recorded that she was the most rebellious Labour member of the House of Lords last year, rebelling against her party whip 33% of the time. She gave an interview on Thursday 1st October on BBC Scotland’s morning news and current affairs programme, Good Morning Scotland and it made interesting listening, especially if you are a follower of both politics and negotiating. First, some background: the Internal Markets Bill has recently... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2020/soft-power/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:27:48 GMT 3362 Stephen White I have many friends who are opinionated, and that is a good thing. Discussing issues of the day with them is always an interesting experience, because discussion without controversy is deadly boring, and they are far from boring. One of them has a pet phrase when he disagrees with a POV – ‘I hear what you say’ he says, but what he actually means is ‘You’re wrong’. The problem with opinionated people is that... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2020/answer-the-question/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:27:48 GMT 3360 Stephen White Over the years I have spent quite a lot of time in Bradford. My wife, at that time my girlfriend, went to Margaret McMillan College of Education in the town, we were regular visitors to the Alhambra Theatre, and later on I taught numerous managers working for Grattan’s, the mail order catalogue company. It is a fine town, populated by great characters. In 1981 Bradford made headlines when it declared itself to be a nuclear-free zone. No one quite understood what that meant in practice, but the literal interpretation was that if... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2020/an-opinion-free-blog/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:27:47 GMT 3358 Stephen White We had a kitchen tap problem. No hot water. We don’t have a tame plumber, but coincidentally that same day we had received a tradesmen’s flyer so we went with one of the plumbers listed. He turned up on time, he was a very nice man and he seemed to know what he was talking about. He assessed the problem, diagnosed elderly pipework, did some more tests, re-diagnosed elderly pipework plus a faulty tap and told us what we needed to replace it with – a new tap capable of handling low water pressure because of the pipework. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2020/getting-into-hot-water/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:27:47 GMT 3356 Robin Copland It’s a strange thing but there is a sense that the effects of the global pandemic currently ravaging the globe have been an almost welcome distraction from the other big current news event in the UK – Brexit. Quite rightly, the media’s attention has been focused on the UK’s response to... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2020/clean-breaks/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:27:46 GMT 3354 Alan Smith My daughter arrived home last week for her regular visit to wash her bedding. 30 years old and still comes home to wash her bed. I know. What the flip! Weird but I guess the fact that... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2020/problems-problems/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:27:46 GMT 3352 Alan Smith One of the many things that COVID has exposed dramatically is the attitude we all have for taking risks. Risk has always been a shifting and ever-present aspect of life and something that we all come into contact with at some point. From the (mis)adventures we have as kids to the decisions we make as adults, our attitude towards risk is a fundamental part of who we are. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2020/would-you-risk-it/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:27:45 GMT 3350 Robin Copland Here’s a question for you: what do John Swinney, Peter Weir, Kirsty Williams and Gavin Williamson all have in common? I’m going to give you a clue – they are all a bit closer to their respective exit doors than they were this time last week. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2020/fancy-a-go-on-the-skid-pan/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:27:44 GMT 3348 Alan Smith I live in the extreme south-east of England, probably as close to the coast of France as I am to London. As such we get the best weather in the UK, assuming of course that you enjoy the sunshine and relative warmth of a hit or miss UK summer. If you enjoy cool and rain, not to mention midges, I suggest Scotland. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2020/keep-cool/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:27:43 GMT 3346 Alan Smith As the sun returns to parts of the UK this week, we all should massively take care of ourselves and our loved ones as the lure of the cooling effects of water drag us to the seaside and our local wild swimming areas. Furlough did a number of things, one of which has been... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2020/process-really-counts/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:27:42 GMT 3344 David Bannister Every night since March our national broadcaster has solemnly announced the statistics of COVID 19 deaths which have occurred in the UK. Periodically also, because the governments are devolved, the Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish governments have pointed out that their fatality rates from the disease in their respective countries have been less awful than those in England where many have rationalised the difference as being affected by the size of cities, the make-up of the population or the density of housing. The figures showed... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2020/if-only-we-knew/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:27:42 GMT 3342 Stephen White Yesterday the UK government lost control of the intelligence and security committee and resigned itself to see the publication of a long-time-hidden report on Russian interference in British politics next week. Today Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab announced that Russian hackers in state-sponsored organisations called Cozy Bear and Sekondary Infektion have been trying to steal British intellectual property relating to the manufacture of a vaccine for Covid-19, and influence the result of the 2019 General Election. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2020/diversion-taktiks/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:27:41 GMT 3340 Richard Savage I have just been the dutiful Dad and delivered the youngest one, Grace, back to Bristol with her boyfriend – both graduating students of the university there. They have decided to both stay on for a year (coincidence? I think not) and so it is the annual task of moving into a new flat (facilitated by yours truly) that this story is about. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2020/student-life/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:27:41 GMT 3338 David Bannister My wife and I own a static caravan in Mid-Wales and for the three years during which we have had it, it has been our weekend bolt-hole and place for the occasional holiday for us and for the family. This year... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2020/goodwill-hunting-the-story-of-jane-s-cakes/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:27:40 GMT 3336 Richard Savage I have now been staring at the terrace at the back of my house for 3 straight months (thanks, global health crisis!). Obviously, I’ve been flat to the boards at work on my many screens too but like computer screens, the view has become a little jaded. So in a moment of inspiration I decided to organise my veritable ‘outside kitchen’ (Big Green Egg, Savage Grills BBQ and the Brick Oven) around a bigger space. This excitement has not been shared quite so enthusiastically by Mrs Savage and she flinches every time I mention the ‘K(itchen)’ word but the prospect of a new garden area has been accepted. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2020/crazy-paving/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:27:39 GMT 3334 Stephen White I have been driving an electric car for over 4 years. At the beginning my friends scoffed about ‘range anxiety’ and their disbelief that anyone who drove long distances, as I do, would accept the risk of running out of power in the middle of nowhere – or even worse in the middle of the M1. My smug retort was to point out the difference between the price they paid for fuel and the price I paid for electricity. I was definitely an outlier but in those 4 years we have all become much more aware of climate change, we have learned much more about the noxious fumes emitted by diesel engines, and the range of electric vehicles has significantly increased. As a result many more people were looking to replace their ICE (internal combustion engine) vehicles with electric equivalents. The high price of fuel, and an expectation that prices will keep on rising has also helped. Until lockdown. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2020/falling-prices/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:27:39 GMT 3332 Brian Buck This past week was gut-wrenching, as I took in the social injustice, the civil unrest, the calls for action, and the sheer pain experienced by so many people. Like others, I was saddened and moved by what I saw, but it’s been difficult to watch. It’s been just as hard to explain to my kids, and it’s been painful to talk to friends who have been impacted. The one thing I keep coming back to in all of this is that change simply doesn’t take place without each and every one of us being held accountable for it. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2020/a-tale-of-our-times/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:27:38 GMT 3330 Richard Savage It is fascinating how new words (or old ones) enter our vocabulary and are suddenly on everyone’s lips. Over the last few years, previously unknown words like Brexit or Covid-19 were unheard of but quickly become broadly understood by everyone. Likewise, previously little used (but more common) words like negotiation, lockdown and of course virtual have become ubiquitous. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2020/the-virtue-of-virtual-whatever-that-means/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:27:37 GMT 3328 Richard Savage “Dad, dad, it’s urgent, please call me” said the Text. Instagram. WhatsApp. Messenger or whatever virtual communication I received yesterday from my eldest. On the call that followed she explained... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2020/consultancy-for-kids/ Fri, 04 Aug 2023 15:28:04 GMT 3326 Stephen White Lockdown certainly sorts the gardeners out, at least around where I live. Some gardens I pass on my daily exercise hour are super-pristine, almost manicured in their perfection. Others remain a straggly mess, with the grass overlong and the weeds overblown. Mine fits into the latter category; not because I don’t care but because I don’t have the skill, the enthusiasm or the tools to do anything about it. So when an announcement was made yesterday... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2020/goldilocks-and-the-three-bears/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:27:36 GMT 3324 David Bannister As some of you may have read my previous blog, you will realise that I am now coming to the end of week 6 of my isolation. I have stopped and reflected on it as an experience which I have certainly never had before. Looking back, I have noted some really positive things (and negative ones as well, of course). Each day of those six weeks I have been... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2020/corona-bonus/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:27:35 GMT 3322 Stephen White Few would deny that Donald Trump’s thinking has been all over the place in terms of the virus. He consults with scientists and relies on scientific advice, and then tells the Great American Public that the metrics he will use to determine when and how to relax the lockdown are ‘in here’ (pointing to his head). He says he understands the need for lockdown but encourages insurrection by those who want to ignore social distancing and ‘liberate’ America. Confused, or what? https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2020/data-breakdown/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:27:35 GMT 3320 Richard Savage Well, there we have it. The first secretary this week has pronounced that lockdown continues for another 3 weeks. The media were predicting such a statement, no doubt to soften us up for the confirmation. The awful statistics continue to build and whilst there is talk of light at the end of the tunnel, no one is totally convinced it’s not another train heading our way! Businesses are struggling, families battle on indoors and our front-line care workers are at full stretch. And the pubs are still closed. A dark time indeed. And yet, hidden amongst the misery there are some wonderful stories that lighten the mood. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2020/is-there-an-upside-of-lockdown/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:27:34 GMT 3318 Richard Savage I love being at home. I love being with my family. But ALL day, EVERY day? And then I reflected that one of the most important things we teach as professional negotiators is to ask questions, good questions, and then most critically, listen to the answers. In fact, the ability to listen is probably the ultimate negotiator's asset! https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2020/the-new-front-line-negotiating-at-home/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:27:33 GMT 3316 Ann Parr Last Saturday I got married. This week we were meant to be somewhere exotic, gazing lovingly into each other’s eyes and making plans for the start of our married life together. But. Then. COVID-19. Let’s face it are any of us living the life we planned for just now?! https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2020/love-in-the-time-of-corona/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:27:33 GMT 3314 David Bannister As I sit here in the third week of self-isolation – the first two having been forced on me because I holidayed for three weeks in Thailand – I have reflected on how important social interaction is to us all. I can’t cuddle my new grandson or play games with my other grandchildren and I am maintaining social distance from neighbours although, to be honest where one of them is concerned that represents no change from the norm! https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2020/it-s-only-words/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:27:31 GMT 3311 Alan Smith Crisis? This bloody crisis! Be honest. Who saw this coming? Not me, that’s for sure. I was happily minding my own business, working, exercising (occasionally) seeing family and friends and looking forward to the start of better weather and a summer of holidays and warmth. Then that was it. The COVID-19 virus hit. Slowly to start with, and somewhere else. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2020/crisis/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:27:31 GMT 3309 Tom Feinson If I was to say the word “vulture” what would spring to mind? I would predict images of parasitic, ugly creatures feasting on rotting carcasses, there may be even a slight tightening of the stomach and an unpleasant taste in the mouth. The human comparison is that of ruthless unpleasant people who prey on the weak. However, I learnt this weekend that the generally accepted view is wrong. As a family, we... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2020/one-man-s-meat-is-another-man-s-poison/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:27:30 GMT 3307 Alan Smith Anyone who comes from the North of England will see this phrase as one of the greatest insults you can hurl. Thinking a lot of yourself is a phrase my grandmother used to use frequently as a put down for people who clearly had aspirations above their station as she would think. Northerners are known for... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2020/you-think-a-lot-of-yourself/ Mon, 15 Sep 2025 14:40:46 GMT 3305 Stephen White My newspaper today has three full pages of Aldi advertisements. The running motif is price and the word LIKE…. ‘If you LIKE low prices’, ‘If you LIKE’ saving over 40%’, and so on. The word is fashionable – it has taken on new importance because of social media – we are asked to LIKE our friends, LIKE other people’s Facebook posts, LIKE Instagram photos. Perhaps this... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2020/please-like-this/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:27:29 GMT 3303 Richard Savage A friend told me this tragic story about what turned into a very expensive trip to a local shopping centre with her husband. They are both smokers, you know the ones that give up from time to time, enjoy a rather tense and grumpy few days together and then start again (lucky bastards!). Visits to shopping centres in pairs are... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2020/give-up-it-s-not-good-for-you/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:27:28 GMT 3301 Andrew Farquhar A game plan which has focussed around playing faster and being more nimble than the opposition has been the pervading approach; in rugby, as in negotiations, going toe to toe with a more powerful opponent is very unlikely to prove fruitful. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2020/size-isn-t-everything/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:27:27 GMT 3299 Annabel Shorter Whizzing around yesterday I caught snippets of the news and I gather that the Government is considering decriminalising the non-payment of the BBC’s licence fee. If I understand correctly the fee will now apply to all households including the previously exempt over-75s. However, by removing the sanction attached to non-payment do they effectively make it optional? The question is what percentage of households given the choice would pay the fee? I heard one expert estimate that it would result in a £350m drop in revenue. So, are the government labouring under the view that people will do the ‘right thing’? https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2020/the-right-thing/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:27:26 GMT 3296 Sam Macbeth As I write this, the Coronavirus continues to spread – creating untold human misery, the price for which cannot be negotiated. The virus will already be creating different kinds of change; increased need for protection, medicine and support along with the basics that human beings need. Now, ‘change’ can be a catalyst for negotiating, and in this sense, it could take different forms: Firstly, there are those opportunistic commercial organisations who may be tempted to profiteer from a short-term power increase in supply and demand (hotels charging more when people are stranded in bad weather?), outweighed most probably by a long-lasting damaging change in public perception after the event. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2020/flex-and-flexibility/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:27:25 GMT 3294 David Bannister In the past couple of weeks, the press in the UK and in other parts of the world has devoted many of its precious column inches to the story surrounding Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and his wife, the former actress Meghan Markle. As you can probably imagine with my background, whenever the word "negotiation" appears in the press then my attention is caught. In this case,... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2020/a-right-royal-deal/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:27:25 GMT 3292 Richard Savage I’m fascinated by how brands can make us feel. The intensity of that feeling, what drives it and how long it can last. The infamous ones in my experience include IKEA. Nothing makes my blood curdle more than the indignity of being herded around the labyrinth of their Wembley store, before you land in the cattle market of the queuing system. Great for your... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2020/bad-behaviour-from-the-good-guys/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:27:24 GMT 3290 Stephen White It is a new year and a new decade. How does that make you feel – optimistic or apprehensive? Knowing this is important, because your answer may be a guide to your negotiating style. I have an old friend who is in retail. For many years... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2020/happy-new-year/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:27:23 GMT 3288 Alan Smith Many years ago, when I was a student at University studying economics, my then professor posed an interesting dilemma that all of us would have to face in the future. The increasing mechanisation of the Global Economy was forcing the workforce out. Robots would... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2019/a-precious-gift/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:26:38 GMT 3286 Alan Smith Let’s get one thing clear. I can’t get over how confusing it all is, to be honest. The amount of information being thrown at us daily is literally staggering. Much of it playing... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2019/let-s-be-clear/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:26:37 GMT 3284 Alan Smith You decide to get your whole house repainted. You invite four local firms to come to your home and give you a quote. After they have looked around you sit each of them in a separate room and ask them for their best price. Each of them has the same brief and need to cover materials as well as labour. They all have two weeks to complete the job. You ask them to write... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2019/four-rooms/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:26:36 GMT 3282 Tom Feinson I was walking up the escalator on the left-hand-side as you should (British you know), when I came across a guy stood, rooted to the spot, inactive, motionless, stationary, sprouting roots. My blood began to gently boil but being British (again) I did... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2019/the-power-of-you/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:26:36 GMT 3280 Alan Smith If you think Black Friday offers good deals, you may be right. But good deals for who is a very different question. Black Friday is a colloquial name for the Friday following Thanksgiving in the US, celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November. The day after Thanksgiving has been regarded as... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2019/sack-black-friday/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:26:35 GMT 3278 Stephen White There was a time not so long ago when getting a significant discount on a new Mercedes car was well-nigh impossible. Car buyers knew that motor dealers generally were prepared to offer discounts, often around 10% of the list price, but that these norms did not apply to marques like Aston Martin, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Porsche and Mercedes, especially at the top end of the range. Asking the salesman usually produced a look of amused incredulity (‘You want what…?’) followed by an explanation that Mercedes just didn’t do that, because they didn’t need to... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2019/marque-my-words/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:26:34 GMT 3276 Richard Savage “The trouble, Richard”, a prospective client once said to me, “is that I can get a better service elsewhere for less money” …the salesman’s worst nightmare! But I was desperate; I’d been trying to get this research proposal over the line for weeks and we really needed the revenue. I was ready to compromise and do (what I thought) was necessary. But that compromise (or unconditional concession as we professional negotiators like to call it) didn’t just cost me the arbitrary 15% discount to get the job. It set a precedent for subsequent jobs that overtime amounted to thousands of pounds. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2019/liar-liar-pants-on-fire/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:26:33 GMT 3274 Richard Savage So two guys (me and a mate) arranged to meet for a cheeky pint. Tony had a new job, something cool and mysterious to do with Bitcoins – it was his first day, having previously retired from his city job to become an international playwright; a move that was proving less lucrative than hoped. The date? Tonight! You can still be spontaneous at 50 something you know! The venue...Ye Grapes in Shepherds Market, Mayfair, a personal favourite. I arrived early and... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2019/my-round/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:26:33 GMT 3272 Robin Copland Negotiations are often formulaic. Management, for example, go into a negotiation fully expecting the union to make the first proposal. This approach has been accepted as the norm for so many years that somehow, it is seen as “not the done thing” to do anything different. If management is keen to... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2019/tell-them-what-you-want/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:26:32 GMT 3270 Stephen White Probably the most common reason for the slow uptake of all-electric cars is the fear that they might run low on power with no way of recharging before the battery is completely drained. To an extent the fear is irrational. Most drivers use their cars for... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2019/range-anxiety/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:26:31 GMT 3268 Richard Savage The highlight of the holidays, which after this week’s biblical weather seems a long time ago, was some energetic romping about in the Cantabrian mountains in Northern Spain. There is a beautiful spot in the heart of the Picos de Europa where we have been going for nearly two decades. And in this hiking paradise, we celebrate the fact that despite the absolute confidence ahead of each adventure we embark on, meticulous packing of walking maps and charging up of GPS enabled smartphones, we know we will get lost. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2019/up-a-mountain/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:26:30 GMT 3266 Alan Smith It is quite easy to see the problem of negotiators being involved in the deal, but not the act of putting the deal into practice. The sales team who are committed to delivering on their target may not be that concerned about what happens at the implementation stage, or worse leave it to others to pick up the pieces when they over-promise or throw everything in to get the signature on the paper. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2019/getting-it-done/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:26:28 GMT 3260 Robin Copland First of all, the technique – it is called “Lesser of Two Evils” and Boris Johnson is the latest to use it. The idea is that you give the other sides two alternatives, it’s kind of an extreme version of “Either / Or”. One of the alternatives is completely unacceptable (“No Deal Brexit” on 31 October) and the other only marginally less so, Johnson’s so-called “Final Offer”. Oh – and just add that wee phrase, “Final Offer” to the mix to twist the knife. “Take it or leave it”. Bound to work. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2019/lesser-of-two-evils/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:26:30 GMT 3264 Tom Feinson Porro…..prorooro….prorrroooo….I hate that word, I can’t even say it let alone spell it, one last try, prorogation……..and breathe. The British supreme court have, this week, concluded that the recent prorogation of parliament was illegal, as a result, parliament is back in session and even less polite than it was before. To go off on a tangent for a moment,... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2019/prorogue-parliament/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:26:29 GMT 3262 Jonathan Posner If you’re a keen football fan, then you will have seen the unfortunate story unfold of Bury Football Club failing to secure investment, and thus having to finally close their turnstiles on 29 August 2019 - RIP Bury FC. Bury F.C. was inspired by Aiden Arrowsmith, a local enthusiast of two local Bury church football teams. In 1885 Arrowsmith proposed them joining together and creating Bury F.C, so they leased some land at ‘Gigg Lane’ from the Earl of Derby and the rest they say is history. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2019/the-shakers-are-buried/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:26:28 GMT 3258 Stephen White Much of the behaviour in the House of Commons this week and last will be viewed by historians as insane, confused, unprecedented and outrageous. But for me, the most bizarre was a short statement last Tuesday afternoon from Sir Desmond Swayne, Conservative MP for New Forest West. When called by the Speaker he stood up and asked the Prime Minister the following question: https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2019/one-way-ticket/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:26:27 GMT 3255 Alan Smith Mr Trump has been at it again. He seems to like to annoy people. The Chinese will not be fond of him. The Japanese not happy with his approach to trade. Closer to home, he has had a go at the Obama’s and the Oscars. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2019/only-if/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:26:26 GMT 3253 Alan Smith Seems that humans are not the only creatures that lie to get what we want. Higher (sic) non-carbon life forms (cyborgs as described by James Lovelock in his new book, Novacene) are gaining the ability to trick and ‘cheat’ and have demonstrated their proficiency in so doing by beating the world champions in Go and Chess. Both of which require a certain degree of subterfuge, and an enormous amount of guile. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2019/ain-t-nobody-here-but-us-chickens/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:26:26 GMT 3251 Sam Macbeth There was outrage this week at a new UK TV programme on Channel 4 - ‘Train Your Baby like a Dog’. In the documentary, animal behaviourist, Jo-Rosie Haffenden treats young children with a variety of issues including temper tantrums and violent outbursts. One of the methods used included ‘clicker training’ which is also employed... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2019/spot-the-difference/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:26:25 GMT 3249 John McMillan My children used to try it; "Dad, just say Yes". But I don’t know what the question is. Just say Yes first. I never fell for that trick. Now we see other grown-ups (?) using the same technique; the pre-condition. Boris Johnson, currently the UK Prime Minister, has said... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2019/preconditions/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:26:24 GMT 3247 Stephen White I was sorry to read of the demise of the Spudulike chain this week. They are another victim of overblown High Street rents which make life so difficult for retailer tenants of every description. I think with a bit of creative thinking there was a solution for Spudulike. Started in Edinburgh in 1974 it had a simple and compelling rationale –... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2019/spud-u-don-t-like/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:26:24 GMT 3245 Alan Smith We had some very sad news this week in the passing of one of our friends, colleagues and all-round good eggs, Marty Finkle. Marty worked for the Scotwork US business and for a considerable time he was the CEO of the organisation on the other side of the pond, before he took on a role of selling and delivering skills advice, training and coaching to a wealth of clients and to quote Marty helping others to help themselves via the medium of negotiation. He was diagnosed with... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2019/not-negotiable-a-tribute-to-marty-finkle/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:26:23 GMT 3243 Richard Savage It’s holiday time and there is no better feeling than the prospect of a well-earned break, some icy cold ones in the sunshine and some quality time with the ones you love. But it comes at a cost. At least getting there does. As witnessed by the start of my family holiday last weekend, a cost that made me think about the balance of power in any conflict, and how it can change just when you least expect it. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2019/you-got-me/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:26:22 GMT 3241 Stephen White “When it comes to the qualifications we demand of our president, to start with, we need someone who will take the job seriously.” Michelle Obama. Don’t stop reading - this blog is not about Donald Trump. In the run up to the election of a new Labour Party Leader 4 years ago, the four candidates were invited by LBC radio to quiz each other. You can see the questions to Jeremy Corbyn here. There are two points of note. Firstly, when asked if he wants to be Prime Minister he ducks the question several times, instead referring to the ideological changes he wants to make within the Labour Party. Secondly when asked about his qualifications and experience to be leader of a major political party his answer is objectively underwhelming – before being an MP, he says, he had been a local councillor for 10 years. I don’t think it is difficult to relate those answers in 2015 to the current divided state of the Labour Party. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2019/qualifications/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:26:21 GMT 3239 Alan Smith Matt Hancock, the Tory MP made a telling point in parliament recently. Anyone who has to deal with people who have a very different personality dependant on whether you meet them one to one, or in a public format will recognise the situation. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2019/a-quiet-word/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:26:21 GMT 3237 Alan Smith If you are watching the politics of the moment you will be watching the leadership battle for the conservative party, and thus premiership of the country. What you are essentially watching is a battle of egos in the attempt to win over the members of the party as to who can do the better job. Hunt claims to be the master negotiator and entrepreneur. Johnson the ex-London Mayor boasts about his ability to lead huge organisations through change and having the strength of character to make difficult things happen. You can decide... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2019/me-myself-and-i/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:26:20 GMT 3235 Alan Smith Alanis Morrissette’s “All I Want” from the wonderful album Jagged Little Pill, could have been written with Jeremy Hunt in mind. Hunt is vying for the leadership of the conservative party against the much-fancied Boris Johnson and asking the same question in a number of different ways. Hunt seems keen to... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2019/why-are-you-so-petrified-of-silence/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:26:20 GMT 3233 Robin Copland When you think about it, it’s some kind of change that moves parties toward the kinds of conflict that often results in the need to negotiate an agreement. Sometimes, the change is self-imposed, for example... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2019/environment/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:26:19 GMT 3231 Sam Macbeth Just recently my Dad passed away. I’ll spare you details, suffice to say anyone who has been in the same situation will know the difficulties this brings. As the last person of my direct family, I inherited... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2019/when-is-a-great-deal-not-a-great-deal/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:26:18 GMT 3229 Stephen White The good people of Peterborough go to the polling stations today to elect the MP who will replace Fiona Onasanya. She was removed from office following her conviction for perverting the course of justice, having invented stories which falsely exonerated her from responsibility for speeding (twice). Meanwhile,... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2019/invention/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:26:18 GMT 3227 Robin Copland So it has come to an end. The Prime Minister, Theresa May has resigned having failed to get her Brexit deal through parliament. It became clear that her latest version of the deal had absolutely no chance of success; furthermore, she had lost the confidence of her MPs and, as a commentator put it earlier this week, the leader of any political party in a democracy leads their party only with the permission of its members. For the first time in living memory, it is fair to say that a British prime minister has resigned because of a failure to negotiate an appropriate deal. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2019/another-red-line-breached/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:26:17 GMT 3225 Alan Smith This week two issues struck me as worthy of consideration so I thought I would write a blog with two subjects, hopefully, both laudable. Rather like in the good old days of vinyl 45s. My first single ever was a Double A. David Cassidy’s Daydream Believer/Puppy Song in 1973. Don’t judge me. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2019/double-a-side/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:26:16 GMT 3223 Stephen White ITV’s announcement on Wednesday that it was permanently cancelling The Jeremy Kyle Show led me to wonder whether the format revealed any truths about conflict resolution and (perhaps voyeuristically) to see just how bad it was. So I watched the episode broadcast on May 9th, still available on YouTube. Oh dear. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2019/car-crash-tv/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:26:16 GMT 3221 Stephen White ‘Nothing is agreed until everything is agreed’. This guideline, part of Article 50 of the Treaty of European Union*, has been a continuous soundbite during the Brexit negotiations. But two other international negotiations which were in the news this week reveal a different gloss on this guideline, which although it might seem both logically and morally right can be much more flexible than at first sight. Firstly the US-China trade negotiations. All was going well... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2019/following-through/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:26:15 GMT 3219 Alan Smith No, this is not some oblique reference to beginning a training plan for next year’s London Marathon (although not a bad start!), nor is it a reminder of the old gag about walking a mile in my shoes and you’ll end up at a bar, and I’ll have no shoes. It’s about really trying to figure out how the other side in any walk of life see things and wondering if that might change or adapt the way we deal with them. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2019/walk-a-mile/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:26:15 GMT 3217 Alan Smith Yellow jackets! Red mist! Easter weekend and blazing sun! In Britain? Global warming? Certainly, the Extinction Rebellion think so. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2019/yellow-jackets/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:26:14 GMT 3215 Alan Smith There is no doubt, and I am indebted to my colleague David Bannister, and the excellent work he has done to find the evidence for this, that most untrained negotiators are stubborn. Indeed, even without the evidence that Scotwork has amassed over the last 4 years by surveying over 3,000 negotiators, you could get a sense of it by looking at the behaviour of our very own Prime Minister and her intransigence over her plan for Brexit. Plan B is to repeat Plan A! https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2019/stubborn-me/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:26:13 GMT 3213 Stephen White Everyone can relate to that devastating feeling when the brilliant presentation you intended to make goes horribly wrong. The symptoms are easy to spot - the audience fails to engage, the negotiating counter-party refuses to buy into the rationale, the boss is obviously underwhelmed. So surely we should have sympathy with Mrs May. Apparently, she was... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2019/the-writing-on-the-wall/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:26:13 GMT 3211 Alan Smith Regular readers (both of you) will remember that a few weeks ago I wrote a BLOG about my new dog Grouse, and how good training produces great results. The little blighter has taught me another lesson this weekend, about how just going through the motions is going to bite you back (pun intended) in the long run. I am doing my best to tire him out and we regularly go out for long walks through the local countryside. I am hitting... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2019/going-through-the-motions/ Mon, 15 Sep 2025 12:39:07 GMT 3209 Robin Copland I was talking to a friend of mine from Singapore this week and the subject of Brexit came up. His basic and simple question was this: how can the mother of all parliaments have got themselves into such a mess over the Brexit question? He told me that at 20.00 in Singapore, traffic comes to a screeching halt and, if possible, everyone gathers around a TV to watch the latest instalment of the comedy show from Westminster. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2019/brexit/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:26:12 GMT 3207 Stephen White When Philip Green announced last week that his wife’s Arcadia Group, which includes Topshop and Miss Selfridge, is planning a restructure, many members of the public will have experienced a feeling of schadenfreude. But those who are in the front line of deals with Mr Green, particularly the landlords who own the stores which he leases throughout the land, will have sighed resignedly as yet another retailer threatens to ‘go under’ unless they play ball and reduce his rents. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2019/know-your-enemy/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:26:11 GMT 3205 Alan Smith Despite my reluctance, we ended up getting a new dog three weeks ago. I said I didn’t want a puppy, for obvious and smelly reasons, my daughter asked me to define puppy? I should have seen it coming and avoided the obvious signal I know, but we now have a 10-month-old adolescent dog called Grouse! Not technically a puppy but still young, crazy and cute as a button. Children are the best negotiators (even 23-year olds). https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2019/gone-to-the-dogs/ Mon, 07 Aug 2023 12:53:03 GMT 3203 Richard Savage Watch the big fight on the Saturday before last? What a brutal business boxing is. The might of one opponent pitched firmly and squarely against another. There are rules of engagement of course; you have to be within 2kg of each other, there’s a medical assessment, special equipment and even a weight of gloves for your category. All designed to level the playing field. What follows is primal. Typical of most boxing evenings, it is hosted in a theatre type venue. An arena, in the middle of which,... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2019/by-unanimous-decision/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:26:10 GMT 3201 Alan Smith The BBC announced this morning a piece of analysis that suggested that the learning of German and French as a foreign language is about to hit an all-time low in the UK. BBC analysis shows drops of between 30% and 50% since 2013 in the numbers taking GCSE language courses in the worst affected areas in England. Whilst a separate survey of secondary schools suggests a third have dropped at least one language from their GCSE options. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2019/no-idea-what-you-are-talking-about/ Fri, 04 Aug 2023 15:14:56 GMT 3199 Richard Savage I have gone from screaming rage to smug and calm in 24 hours. And I am glowing from what feels like a moral victory. But actually, what I have achieved is simply fairness. My adversary has not so much submitted, as seen a situation through a different lens, and shown some humility. My prize? An apology and £57.67 back. That’s all. The trophy though has been extricated from the UK’s largest utility company (not that I should name names), a £28 billion+ UK based company no less. This is no silver bullet for taking on the big guys, the Goliaths of this world. But there is a lesson or two to consider, to improve your chances, that we teach on our negotiation skills courses. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2019/savage-and-goliath/ Fri, 04 Aug 2023 15:40:02 GMT 3197 Alan Smith An evocative phrase that I heard in two different settings for the first time last week. It concerns the behaviour of salespeople who spend inordinate amounts of time in what is best described as rampant persuasion rather than try to understand what the customer wants. As you must know by now (if you are regular readers of this BLOG), Scotwork are absolute experts in the art of negotiation. We often describe negotiation as what happens when the selling (persuasion) stops. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2019/show-up-and-throw-up/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:26:07 GMT 3195 Stephen White Firstly a definition: Deception is an act or statement which misleads, hides the truth, or promotes a belief, concept, or idea that is not true. Commercial negotiators do it all the time, normally without qualms. Buyers imply that a rival supplier has offered a lower price than yours. Sellers indicate that their goods are in short supply. Sometimes the deception in negotiation works but often it is treated sceptically and as a result, trust is eroded between the parties, obviously not good in any relationship, long or short. So deception does matter. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2019/on-deception/ Thu, 20 Jul 2023 15:50:30 GMT 3193 Robin Copland We have reached another climax in the ongoing saga that just keeps on giving – the Brexit negotiations between the UK and the European Union. On Tuesday 29 January, there was another (of many) momentous days when amendment after amendment to the original negotiated agreement was narrowly voted down. Each of these amendments was designed to address a particular set of interests. Eventually, the House of Commons heard the amendment forwarded by Sir Graham Brady, the chair of the 1922 Committee, a senior grandee of the party and widely seen as the spokesperson of backbench Tory MPs. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2019/between-a-rock-and-a-hard-place/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:26:06 GMT 3191 Stephen White I’m sitting in a Starbucks at an airport, and on the wall opposite me is a sign proudly announcing “99% of our coffee is ethically sourced”. I should be proud of them. Haven’t they done well to help protect the environment and make sure that coffee growers get fair trade prices? But instead, my immediate thought is “what happened to the other 1%? Is that unethically sourced? Why? Couldn’t they have tried just a bit harder and eliminated unethical sourcing altogether?” https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2019/shouting-too-loud/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:26:05 GMT 3189 Alan Smith Ever found yourself in that nightmare scenario when you are in front of another party in a negotiation and the partner you have taken with you to the meeting seems to have gone off track, starts revealing new information, giving in on things you had both agreed before the negotiation, being conciliatory when they should have been tough or tough when they should have been conciliatory. Even worse, the other side have... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2019/another-fine-mess/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:26:05 GMT 3187 Alan Smith I am a big fan of the Channel 4 programme, which started a new season on Sunday this week called Who Dares Wins. In it, civilians are invited to take part in the rigorous selection process used by the British elite special operations division the SAS. The programme has ex-special forces members barking viciously at the individuals who have... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2019/who-prepares-wins/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:26:04 GMT 3185 Stephen White The EU continue to claim that the withdrawal deal on the table – Mrs May’s deal – is non-negotiable, capable only of clarification but not of change. Is their refusal to budge from this position a ‘polite refusal’, which might change under pressure, or is it a final position? Look at some analogies. My favourite episode of The Vicar of Dibley was shown again over the holiday period. Geraldine, the eponymous vicar beloved by her congregants, is invited by several of them to their respective homes for Christmas Day lunch. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2019/polite-refusals/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:26:03 GMT 3183 Alan Smith Every child knows that it is the time of year when all the good and bad deeds (and thoughts) you have had get tallied up by the Big Man, as he sits in his icy splendour on the North Pole trying to figure out what you get on Christmas morning. It’s also a bit of a one-hit wonder, as a year in the life of a kid is as good as a lifetime so don’t get it wrong. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2018/naughty-or-nice/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:25:04 GMT 3181 Robin Copland Honestly. She is on a hiding to nothing. It is terribly easy to carp and criticise from the sidelines; especially when you don’t have to get out of bed and go to negotiate. As someone... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2018/who-d-be-theresa-may/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:25:03 GMT 3179 Alan Smith Despite Facebook telling me I’m a genius because I know what “fastidious” means (it also told me I’m a dead ringer for Justin Timberlake, much to my kids’ amusement), I absolutely recognise my limitations. One of those is that I am... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2018/time-is-on-your-side-or-is-it/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:25:02 GMT 3177 Stephen White Two weeks left to go before the House of Commons votes on Theresa May’s EU Withdrawal plan. At this stage it is so highly unlikely that it will be approved that continuing to promote it, as she is with a nation-wide roadshow, looks like political suicide. So inevitably we see objectors to her plan offering their alternatives ever more stridently. The one in vogue as I write is Norway+. My purpose here is neither to commend nor attack her proposal or any of the ‘Plan B’suggestions. Rather it is to ask questions about the nature of Plan B options from a negotiator’s perspective. I suggest 5 issues which need to be considered... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2018/my-way-or-norway/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:25:02 GMT 3175 Alan Smith Guess what’s coming? Not difficult really! John Lewis has released its new ad, the shops are full of tinsel and advent calendars, even Slade must be... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2018/guess-what/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:25:01 GMT 3173 Stephen White On August 30th, mid-evening, our home was broken into. We were away overnight. Fortunately, we had recently installed a video doorbell which alerted me about the activity via my mobile phone, and which recorded footage of the offender trying to jimmy open the front door, failing, and then disappearing around the back of the house. He climbed onto... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2018/break-in/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:25:00 GMT 3171 David Bannister I wonder if, like me, you have recently followed the story of a shoplifter who stole a tray of cans of beer from a supermarket. This was no ordinary shoplifter, he looked like the actor David Schwimmer and his CCTV photograph was shown widely in the media. David Schwimmer showed his sense of humour by posting his own photograph on social media showing him clutching a similar looking tray of beers and taking a furtive look at a shop camera. This reminded me of... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2018/gaining-friendly-advantage/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:25:00 GMT 3169 Stephen White I was intrigued by a radio interview I heard last week. The subject was the long-running battle by the Trade Unions to win gender-equal pay rights for 12,000 municipality workers such as care home, catering and school cleaning staff in Glasgow. Frustrated with Glasgow City Council’s negotiating stance the unions representing these workers had... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2018/close-to-home/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:24:59 GMT 3167 Sam Macbeth The BBC started a series re-run on Sunday called ‘Talking Pictures’ which showcases the careers of famous actors. In this particular episode, the actor in question was Alec Guinness – one of the interviews was originally conducted with Michael Parkinson in 1977. In the interview,... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2018/smart-alec/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:24:58 GMT 3165 David Bannister Here in the UK, the news and social media is obsessed with negotiation – or, as some would have it, capitulation. As the moment of that final deadline nears (again!) and we all prepare for a life of isolation with grounded airliners and gridlocked motorways on the way to our main ports, my attention was attracted by a story which started with a negotiation about 3 years ago in Monaco. At that time a young man called Antony Martial... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2018/brexit-negotiation-is-about-goals/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:24:57 GMT 3163 Alan Smith Fancy creating a bit more value in your business, then put it through the shredder! This weekend the iconic Bristolian artist Banksy has played what could be one of the most impudent acts in art by organizing for one of his famous works to self-destruct after being sold at auction for just over £1m. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2018/what-s-it-worth/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:24:57 GMT 3161 Robin Copland Come with me on a wee journey, if you please. Imagine, if you can, that you are running a company that has been in a partnership for a number of years with a conglomerate. The business has been going well; yes, there are the problems associated with merging two different systems; yes there have been the odd disputes between the two organisations, but by and large, you have rumbled along to the profit of both. External circumstances dictate that there has to be a... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2018/a-wee-journey/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:24:56 GMT 3159 Alan Smith If I asked you how do you think the World is going on a report card. Most of you would do a lot worse than a chimp. At least that’s the evidence presented by Factfullness a book published by Hans Rosling a Swedish physician this year. When asked a very simple question, “In the... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2018/chimps-are-a-lot-cleverer-than-most-of-us/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:24:56 GMT 3157 Ben Byth We are always thrilled to hear when clients tell us about how they have used specific things they learned from us. One of my clients called last week to say she was getting some success around raising prices. One of the big challenges with raising pricing is... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2018/either-or-proposals-to-increase-pricing/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:24:55 GMT 3155 Stephen White People are fascinated by Pound Shops. They’ve been around the High Street for over 20 years. Stores like Poundland, Poundstretcher, Poundworld, and others grew their estate and their customer numbers rapidly when Woolworths failed and austerity kicked in at the beginning of 2009. Not all have succeeded. 99p Stores were absorbed into Poundland, and recently Poundworld went into administration. For most, the original premise – that everything in the store is £1 – has had to go as inflation limits the stock range that can be sold profitably at that price point. Most of us... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2018/open-buying/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:24:53 GMT 3150 Stephen White Undoubtedly the question Scotwork consultants are asked most by clients and course participants is ‘How do I deal with a negotiator bully at work?’. More on that another time. The second most common question – ‘How do I get a better deal when going for a new job or a promotion?’ was brought to mind by an interview to be aired by the BBC next week with Lord Mervyn King. In preview excerpts, he asserts that the UK Government has been incompetent in the Brexit negotiations and that “a government that cannot take action to prevent some of these catastrophic outcomes (such as a shortage of medicines and food if there is a ‘No Deal’ result) illustrates a whole lack of preparation”. What is the connection? https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2018/asking-for-more/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:24:54 GMT 3152 Robin Copland The Caspian Sea is the sea that isn’t. It is landlocked and does not drain into the ocean, so it really should be called the Caspian Lake. Big lake, mind you, but there we are. The five countries surrounding the Sea, Azerbaijan, Iran, Turkmenistan, Russia and Kazahkstan have just recently signed a convention ending twenty years of dispute that has hindered the exploitation of the Caspian’s oil and gas reserves. Russia’s President Putin hailed the convention as “an important moment” and “a major landmark event for all our countries. “We have signed a convention on the legal status of the Caspian Sea. This is... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2018/the-sea-that-isn-t-and-the-deal-that-is/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:24:52 GMT 3146 Alan Smith My 22-year-old daughter is currently 4 years into a 5-year course at Bristol University, training to be a Vet. Difficult profession. Lots of different types of sick animals who can’t tell you what is wrong. Nightmare really. Although she tells me at least the patients don’t come into surgery with a whole self-diagnosis thanks to Doctor Google. Right now, she is... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2018/what-s-for-dinner/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:24:52 GMT 3148 Robin Copland Power is a funny thing. Inexperienced negotiators often make the mistake – and it can be a commercially ruinous error – of looking at it rather as competing nations might https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2018/world-s-going-to-hell-in-a-handbasket/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:24:51 GMT 3144 Robin Copland Negotiators don’t necessarily derive their power from the relative size of their organisations. In fact, many negotiators fall into the trap of being scared by a seemingly “bigger” opponent on the other side and end up striking deals that belie their significance to the other side. As I have written before, these deals can be commercially ruinous. In fact, they derive their power from the incentives and sanctions that they have at their disposal. The problem that negotiators face when deploying their power, exerting their leverage as I once heard it described, is that some incentives seem relatively indivisible. They have one enormous “chunk” of a concession and then it’s over to threats and counter-threats – never a place where nice people like to be! https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2018/alternatives/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:24:50 GMT 3142 Alan Smith Just back from a two-week holiday in Sicily. Beautiful country, never been before, recommend it. Although not in July. 34 degrees every day (bit like London!!) and an absurd 40 degrees if you go inland sightseeing. You literally can’t do anything during the main part of the day, except sit in the pool with a beer (or another suitable beverage). The locals of course have figured this out (mad dogs and Englishmen!) and time their days appropriately. Siesta, what a fantastic invention... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2018/timing-is/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:24:49 GMT 3140 Stephen White Years ago I was asked to evaluate a sales-training ‘game’. The player sat in front of a screencast as a salesperson tasked with winning an order from a big corporate prospect. As the story unfolded the player was asked to make decisions from a multichoice selection and then given feedback. My evaluation was based on me being that player/salesperson. The first decision required was... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2018/nowhere-left-to-go/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:24:49 GMT 3138 Robin Copland Long-term supporters of the Labour party in the UK live in interesting times. Like all political parties, its fortunes move in cycles. If it lurches leftwards – as it did under Michael Foot, for example, in the seventies and eighties, it becomes unelectable – just too radical for middle Britain to swallow. If it moves to the centre,... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2018/corbyn-s-open-goal/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:24:48 GMT 3136 Robin Copland There are a number of interesting things happening in European politics right now. In the UK, two “big beast” Brexiteers, David Davies and Boris Johnson have resigned over the Chequers agreement that some say was foisted on the UK cabinet at the end of last week. Boris Johnson is well known outside the UK as the ex-Mayor of London. He is a showman who, many people believe, chose... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2018/brexit-and-nato/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:24:48 GMT 3134 Sam Macbeth “At least there aren’t so many flags this time” – said my, slightly surly, Scottish colleague. He was referring to the number of St George’s flags flying from car windows on our way to an English course venue – it is, of course, World Cup time. I tried explaining that in years gone by with the various ‘Golden Generations’ the English media had been very adept at whipping up an optimistic frenzy based on us beating sides that were either very unlucky, argued incessantly between themselves (on and off the pitch) or were the lowest of the low in terms of their rankings. Once the England team had lost, this would normally be followed by the inevitable media witch hunt. This has been my experience for the past, nearly 50 years. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2018/trust-me-i-m-an-england-soccer-fan/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:24:47 GMT 3132 Robin Copland Consider the words of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, delivered at the unveiling of Thomas Jefferson’s sculpture on Mount Rushmore in 1936: I think we can wonder whether our descendants, because I think they’ll still be here, what they will think about us; and let us hope that they will at least give us the benefit of the doubt, that they will believe that we have honestly striven in our day and generation to preserve for our descendants a decent land to live in and a decent form of government to operate under. Bear in mind when these words were spoken... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2018/we-live-in-interesting-times/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:24:46 GMT 3130 Stephen White The British are world champions at Understatement. From Captain Oates’ immortal ‘I am just going outside and may be some time’ to the pilot of the British Airways plane hobbled by volcanic ash ‘Ladies and Gentlemen this is your captain speaking. We have a small problem. All four engines have stopped’ we are classically modest in our language when things are going wrong. My personal favourite; the epitaph on Spike Milligan’s tombstone ‘I told you I was ill’ https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2018/understating-the-obvious/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:24:46 GMT 3128 Alan Smith We are right in the middle of A Levels, probably the most stressful time in the lives of our youngsters in my humble opinion. These are the big ones. The ones that set up your future in many ways as they help put you on a trajectory of job choices and university courses that may decide to some extent the rest of your life. Let’s not get into a debate about how qualified an 18-year-old is to make such choices, as Oscar Wilde said, I wish I was young enough to know it all! I say all this with some trepidation as frankly... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2018/a-level-season/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:24:45 GMT 3126 Stephen White Some years ago, I inherited from an elderly uncle a scruffy handwritten family tree of my father’s forebears. Intrigued and interested I did some research and expanded it, including my mother’s family, and then my wife’s family. When the technology became available I used a web-based programme to put it online and make it accessible to others. As a result, distant relatives I didn’t know existed contacted me and the tree grew even taller and wider. Genealogy had turned into one of my hobbies. In this endeavour... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2018/who-do-you-think-you-are/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:24:44 GMT 3124 Alan Smith What a great question. And one I was asked recently by a client who was interested in figuring out a metric by which they could measure deals to figure out if they were good or not. I am sure in the past we have all sat back as the ink begins to dry on the contract, and wondered if the deal was a good one... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2018/how-do-you-measure-success/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:24:44 GMT 3122 Alan Smith After a weekend of celebration over the Royal Wedding, seems a shame to bring up the seemingly inevitability of the prospect of divorce. But I shall. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle exchanged vows in front of 600 guests including the Queen, more than 30 royals and famed faces such as Oprah Winfrey, tennis champ Serena Williams, actor George Clooney and his advocate wife Amal Clooney, Sir Elton John, David and Victoria Beckham and actor Idris Elba. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2018/love-and-divorce/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:24:43 GMT 3120 Stephen White Many adjectives have been used to describe the attitudes of groupings which populate the further extremities of the political spectrum. Groupings like the Neo-cons and alt-right on the right and the Momentum movement on the left. In centrist circles, the adjectives used are mainly derogatory. One which is not widely used is Empathic. Which is a mistake. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2018/empathy/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:24:42 GMT 3118 Alan Smith I’ve been on jury service this week. Fascinating. Can’t tell you anything about the deliberation, against the law. Could tell you about the verdict, but not going to, not relevant to my story (oh go on then guilty!) The thing that I really enjoyed watching was the to-and-fro between the various advocates in the court, and indeed the judge. I do not want to be flippant about this in any way, as in the end, the cases dealt with some pretty traumatic events in people’s lives, but as a keen observer of behaviour and our reactions to it, what a microcosm to behold. As a commercial negotiator a couple of key observations... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2018/members-of-the-jury/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:24:42 GMT 3116 Stephen White Male Alert - be prepared to read this with your legs crossed. It may have passed you by, but there has been press coverage over the last few weeks about a Bill put before the Icelandic Parliament to ban non-medical circumcision for boys. If passed... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2018/a-cut-above/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:24:41 GMT 3114 Apostolos Korlos Finishing a Marathon is a life’s dream for a runner. Thousands of amateur athletes live for the moment of crossing the finishing line of one of the hundreds of marathons organized around the world. The marathon, as any other demanding competition, requires serious and long-term preparation and specialized assistance from experts. Below are some of the most useful tips to finish a marathon and how these can help a negotiator in his work. 1. "Know your route. Find out every kilometer, every hill, every downhill " Take... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2018/6-key-negotiation-insights-through-the-eyes-of-a-marathon-runner/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:24:30 GMT 3082 Robin Copland Regular readers may recall the story I told about pitching up at a hotel with my wife and young family in tow and admitting my desperation to them; I needed a bedroom and I needed it badly. My subsequent request for a discount fell on deaf ears – the words “desperate” and “good deal” rarely appear in the same sentence. My colleague,... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2018/power-balance/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:24:39 GMT 3108 Annabel Shorter In December 2015 my now-husband and I finally spotted a wedding venue that we thought was right for us. Inspections were made and options considered. By January we were in agreement that this was the place for us and that May 30th of that year was the date. Not long in wedding planning terms, but plenty in terms of handing over your life to the pursuit of the right shade of ties and handkerchiefs. Unsurprisingly, it... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2018/something-borrowed-something-negotiated/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:24:39 GMT 3110 Tom Feinson Don’t ask me how but I managed to acquire a reader subscription account to the Financial Times recently. As a result; I thought I should check it out. To be honest, most of it is above my head but I did notice an article on the two leaders of the Brexit negotiations, Michel Barnier & David Davies. This seemed more like home territory for me. One thing that stood out was... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2018/loss-adjusters/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:24:38 GMT 3106 Robin Copland So, there I was in the hotel lobby telling the team behind the desk all my woes. This was about the fourth hotel I had been to; no, I didn’t have a booking but I had my wife and three children outside in the car and I was kind of desperate; no, I didn’t know that there was a major conference in the town that we were visiting and yes, had I known about it, then I would probably have either avoided the place altogether or, at the very least, booked a family room. “Oh, you have... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2018/leverage/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:24:38 GMT 3104 Alan Smith “Remember to look at the stars not down at your feet” I was hugely saddened by the sad demise of Stephen Hawking this week but massively uplifted by, not only his life, but his wonderful approach to it and his ability to live it to the full in what most of us would see as terribly difficult circumstances. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2018/creativity-it-s-the-future/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:24:37 GMT 3102 Stephen White It has taken me a month to catch up with the interview of Jordan Peterson by Cathy Newman of Channel 4 News. You can see it here. If you are entertained by intellectual enthusiasm and combative journalism it will be well worth half an hour of your time. Jordan Peterson is the controversial Professor of Psychology at the University of Toronto. After... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2018/nice-but-not-dim/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:24:36 GMT 3100 Alan Smith A subject that often comes up is how to deal with situations where we have limited power or where the other side seems to have no interest in negotiating with us. Memorably, one client asked me to give them the precise words or phrases that would make the person on the other side of the table say ‘yes’ to whatever they were proposing. They were asking for the equivalent to a negotiating Jedi mind trick... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2018/how-low-can-humanity-go/ Thu, 14 Mar 2024 15:52:15 GMT 3098 Alan Smith KFC has closed 600 of its 900 UK outlets after delivery problems meant they ran out of chicken! It was only last week, that the fried chicken chain switched its delivery contract to DHL, which blamed "operational issues" for the supply disruption. It was unclear when the delivery problems would be rectified, a KFC spokesperson said. For the brand, this has been... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2018/the-colonel-will-not-be-happy/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:24:35 GMT 3096 Stephen White The FT front-page headline last Monday said it all. ‘New Era of Volatiliy Dawning on Markets’. But it was wrong in one respect – this is not a new era. Every follower of economic fashion has long known that political stability, economic predictability and demographic certainty, each a major factor which underpins share prices have been increasingly volatile for some years. The Brexit Referendum, the popularity of the Labour Left Wing, the antics of... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2018/spinning-out-of-control/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:24:34 GMT 3094 John McMillan A woman, let’s call her April June, knocks on a neighbour’s front door; let’s call her Angel Merkin. “Yes,” says Ms Merkin, “what do you want?”... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2018/make-me-an-offer/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:24:33 GMT 3092 Robin Copland Most negotiations are more complex than they appear. Even although, on the face of it, party A, the seller (as an example) is meeting party B (the buyer) in a simple transactional negotiation in which, hopefully, differences can be ironed out and traded away so that a deal is done, the truth of the matter is that it is much more complicated than that. The seller has... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2018/same-page-negotiations/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:24:33 GMT 3090 Alan Smith You get what you pay for. Right? There is a lot of truth in the adage that you get what you pay for? The UK Government... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2018/you-get-what-you-pay-for/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:24:32 GMT 3088 Stephen White Should foreign aid be traded for domestic support? Just before Christmas, when almost every member of the United Nations voted in favour of a resolution condemning the US decision to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and to move its embassy there, President Trump retaliated: ’We’ll save a lot. We don’t care. But this isn’t like it used to be where they could vote against you and then you pay them hundreds of millions of dollars. We’re not going to be taken advantage of any longer’. On... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2018/did-i-just-agree-with-donald-trump/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:24:31 GMT 3086 Alan Smith Sunseeker? I wish. So we are at the start of the year! Spent too much over Christmas? Eaten too much?... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2018/sunseeker/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:24:31 GMT 3084 Stephen White Knowing what you can and can’t do legally, morally, ethically and pragmatically is a vital element of preparation for a negotiation. Deals regularly collapse because the small print contravenes some statute or another, or goes beyond the authority of the signatories. You may think... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2017/banned/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:23:07 GMT 3080 Alan Smith The maxim, “it ain’t over till it’s over” is a maxim because it's true. Fans of Queens Park Rangers were lambasted by their manager for leaving before the end, in their recent match against Brentford. At 2 – 0 down and into injury time, many of the QPR fans decided to leave Loftus Road and missed what makes sport remarkable, 2 late goals from QPR bringing home a draw from their local rivals. Ian Holloway, the QPR manager said, "I was disappointed with our fans, I'd like to say. You should have stayed. You might not have missed your last bus, but you missed a treat. For me, it feels like a win, for them it probably feels like a defeat.” https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2017/it-aint-over/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:23:05 GMT 3074 John McMillan Two’s company; 27’s a crowd. It may be tricky negotiating with a single party, but when there are 27 divergent interests on the other side of the table it becomes even harder. That is just part of the challenge that the UK Government has in their Brexit negotiations. In most negotiations the negotiator is not negotiating for their own benefit; they almost always represent a coalition of interests. If that coalition is united in its mandate to the negotiator, then she or he may have very little room to manoeuvre. Any concession beyond the mandate will have to go back to the coalition for approval. However, if there is disunity amongst the coalition then the negotiator’s ability to make a deal is fatally flawed... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2017/duped/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:23:06 GMT 3078 Stephen White The announcement of the right royal wedding earlier this week coincides with the end of the preliminary Brexit negotiations, hopefully, which will be concluded by the start of the European Council meeting in December. I thought it might be fun for interested negotiators to consider the real meaning of some of the most common jargon we have heard from both sides of the EU table in terms of marriage and divorce. We start with Brexit means Brexit which is as meaningful as saying that Marriage means Divorce, although amazingly in EU-speak that is exactly... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2017/real-marriage-of-the-decade-or-will-it-be-a-divorce/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:23:06 GMT 3076 John McMillan A characteristic of business in the UK in recent years, and I suspect in other countries, is the removal of people from the interface between buyer and seller. In the place of the traditional face-to-face meeting is the RFI, the RFP and the E-auction. Indeed, some companies bar any direct communication between the department which has the need and the potential suppliers. As a senior buyer once... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2017/who-needs-negotiators-when-you-have-processes/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:23:04 GMT 3072 Sam Macbeth The climate of fear for British MP’s seemed to rise to new levels last week – with one BBC reporter stating that the emerging stories of sexual harassment would be bigger than the expenses scandal of a few years ago. Labour MP Clive Lewis is now being investigated after a formal complaint was made against him. Mr. Lewis said, "I don't as a rule at packed Labour party conferences grope people's bottoms when... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2017/mind-your-language/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:23:04 GMT 3070 Tom Feinson Recently Uber boss Travis Kalanick took an “indefinite leave of absence”. A phrase that coexists in the big book of signals next to “spending more time with the family” and just after “you have my 100% support”. True to form he has subsequently resigned. The question is why? If not how this... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2017/shifting-sand/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:23:02 GMT 3066 Alan Smith Since becoming a Scotwork consultant eight years ago, I have noticed a dramatic change in people’s behaviour; and it’s not just happening here at home – it’s a worldwide phenomenon. My grandmother (God bless her) would have thought we had all gone mad, walking around with white things in our ears talking, apparently, to ourselves. Now and in addition, with smartphones enabling us to text, Facebook and WhatsApp as well as just talk, more and more of us are reading our mobile phones as we walk. My youngest daughter (17) never... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2017/fined-for-not-being-creative-enough/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:23:02 GMT 3064 Stephen White An interesting take on ‘bridging the gap’ came to my attention this week. The story has to be told anonymously because of client confidentiality, but the essence was a dispute over the amount of a pay-out between an insurance syndicate and a business owner after the business premises were destroyed by fire. Some of the facts surrounding the fire had made the insurers suspicious, although there was no hard evidence of fraud. Nevertheless, the insurers were reluctant to settle the claim which was close to €10 million,... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2017/a-metaphor-for-the-brexit-negotiations/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:23:00 GMT 3060 Stephen White At the time of writing – Wednesday afternoon 11th October 2017 – there is claimed to be confusion about the Declaration of Independence of Catalonia. The widespread global understanding is that the President of the Catalonian Parliament unilaterally declared independence last night, and immediately suspended it to enable negotiations to take place. But apparently, this understanding does not pertain in Madrid. This morning the Spanish Prime Minister... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2017/you-may-not-be-interested-in-war-but-war-is-interested-in-you/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:23:01 GMT 3062 Alan Smith Just how do you listen to music these days? If the song is unable to get you hooked within 30 seconds, forget it. To be honest that is not a big surprise to me (nor should it be to any professional negotiator). Setting the right scene for a negotiation, by controlling the agenda, creating the appropriate tone and managing expectations of a potential outcome, is something that Scotwork have been banging on about for many years. Getting on the front foot can have a wonderful impact on the outcome of the overall meeting (and/or sequence of meetings). https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2017/i-have-started/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:23:00 GMT 3058 Alan Smith Think about what you can do to create the right environment for a positive negotiation. The place to start is your own mood. Creating a positive mindset by being prepared, rehearse some of the key questions and your answers to theirs, creating ways of improving value for you and them prior to the discussion and having the time to listen more attentively could really be the difference between a good and even better outcome. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2017/moody/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:22:59 GMT 3056 Robin Copland I find this rather difficult to write, as I am a person of some size myself, but I shall press ahead anyway in the fond hope that no one is offended. Recently, on a holiday in the USA, my wife and I found ourselves on an internal flight on a budget US airline. If I share with you at the outset that this airline made Ryanair look like the Savoy hotel of the airline industry, you’ll begin to get the picture. Anyhow, I was allocated seat 4B on a plane that the check-in steward told me was completely full – a middle seat; my wife was in seat 4E – a middle seat on the other side of the aisle. I had missed the bit about pre-booking your seat for $25 a seat; how full was the flight from Phoenix-Mesa to Rapid City going to be, for heaven’s sake? It turned out to be very full. Who knew? As we were waiting to board,... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2017/squashed/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:22:58 GMT 3054 Stephen White At about the same time as this blog is being published we are hosting a webinar entitled ‘Negotiating in Uncertain Times’. If you missed it, a recording is available here. During the sign-up process we asked participants if uncertainty was affecting their business. Most of the audience didn’t comment; I suppose their interest in attending the webinar with its very transparent title was evidence enough of the problem. Those who did comment made some interesting observations. The most common sentiment was that ‘business unusual is the new normal’,... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2017/the-people-speak/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:22:58 GMT 3052 Alan Smith I am occasionally asked the question about who would ‘win’ in a negotiation between a professional negotiator or a gifted amateur. Whilst the concept of a “win” in negotiation is different (an ideal situation, unlike in a fight is where both parties can at least claim some degree of victory) and the relative power and alternatives of the two parties have a lot to play in the outcome. The reality is that the more comfortable that the negotiator is in that environment and the greater the skill set... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2017/shark-v-tiger/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:22:57 GMT 3050 Annabel Shorter Little boys are bought Lego sets and Meccano from a young age and girls are not. As a result, it is not that they can’t do it, they just haven’t been asked to, expected to or encouraged to. By the end of the six-week experiment, the differences had been almost entirely evened out. Surely the same logic might be applied to us as grown-ups. Male or female, the more we expose ourselves to opportunities to negotiate, to push ourselves, to train our negotiation skills, the more comfortable and adept we become. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2017/once-i-was-seven-years-old/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:22:56 GMT 3048 Alan Smith No figures have been revealed as yet to how much Daniel Craig will get for reprising his James Bond role, which he again claims will be his last time, but I’ve got a feeling he may not need to head for the basics aisle in his local supermarket any time soon. Bond 25, which will be released in October 2019 under what I hope will be a much catchier title, is the 25th Bond (Dhooh), and Craig’s 5th. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2017/double-o-deal/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:22:56 GMT 3046 Robin Copland Something interesting happened at the Athletics World Championships last week. Well, actually and to be fair, lots of interesting things happened. Mo Farah kept up his astonishing record by winning the Gold Medal in the 10000 metres. Sadly for him, he had to make do with a Silver in the 5000 metres race. Time finally caught up with Usain Bolt as he could only manage a Bronze Medal in the 100 metres and injury in the 4 x 100 metres relay during his last race. Justin Gatlin, who has been banned not once, but twice for using performance-enhancing drugs, won the 100 metre Gold Medal. 30 athletes and support staff fell victim to a suspected outbreak of norovirus... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2017/the-strange-tale/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:22:55 GMT 3044 Stephen White As the rhetoric between America and North Korea ratchets up serious people have to ask the question ‘What if someone does something very silly and presses the red button?’. If you saw the 2015 TV movie War Book where a fictional role play re-enactment of this type of scenario (in the movie’s case a nuclear explosion in India instigated by Pakistan) with War Office/COBRA personnel trying to strategize as events take place you will know that the effect of such an incident will be devastating... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2017/thinking-the-unthinkable/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:22:54 GMT 3042 Robin Copland It’s amazing how many people go into negotiations with no clear idea about their bottom line. “We’ll see how it goes,” seems to be the rather naïve thought and of course they leave themselves open to the risk of a really poor and unprofitable deal at the end of it. It is empowering to know your bottom line, especially when you have internal agreement at senior level. Think about it: the other side are aggressively demanding that you improve your terms, but you know that what they are asking for is beyond your bottom line. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2017/who-is-going-to-pick-the-fruit/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:22:53 GMT 3038 Stephen White Theresa May’s speech on Tuesday last week urging her political enemies to ‘contribute and not just criticise’ was met by a barrage of exactly the criticism she was asking them to eliminate. A Labour spokesperson said that it showed that the Conservatives had completely run out of ideas and were now reduced to begging, and the Scottish Nationalists line was that if she was serious about collaboration, particularly on Brexit, then she should have offered the SNP a seat at the Brexit negotiations, as they have been demanding for the last year. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2017/collaborating-with-the-enemy/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:22:52 GMT 3036 Alan Smith For two weeks of the year I become a bit of a tennis fan. These weeks coincide with the Wimbledon fortnight, possibly one of the most eagerly awaited tennis tournaments in the world. When I was much younger it was the time of year that my friends and I rushed off to the local tennis courts, usually empty, but now with queues of similarly ignited youths fancying a knock about. I thought I was pretty good until I actually played someone who played regularly, and realized I was useless. Lacked the skills to be honest, but probably didn’t have the mind set either. McEnroe-esque in my attitude and verbiage... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2017/in-the-bubble/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:22:51 GMT 3034 Alan Smith A couple of times over the last week I have been told by prospect clients, that whilst they suspect they get involved in negotiations, they are not quite sure if they are negotiating or not. It seemed to them that all they had to do was discover the optimal position that could be agreed by all parties and that would inevitably win the day. This struck me as both being a bit idealistic and also somewhat soft. The optimal position may indeed mean that I do not meet my, or my organisations best case. Worse still who decides what the optimal position is? Me, them or some arbitrary power? https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2017/do-i-negotiate/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:22:51 GMT 3032 Sebastian Bacewicz When is a ‘generous offer’ not a generous offer? A few answers spring immediately to mind: for example, when a better offer is already on the table (yet - worryingly - completely ignored), or when the proposer feels the need to tell you that their offer is, indeed, very generous. I mean, if the offer is truly generous, why the need to tell you so? Surely, it will be clear for all to see? One may also argue that the "generous offer" is not really generous when it concerns the lives of a few million people and falls significantly short of what is expected both by the other side and the people in question. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2017/generous-offer/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:22:50 GMT 3030 Stephen White In his excellent book Homo Deus Yuval Harari describes an experiment conducted by Daniel Kahneman, who won the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2002. A group of volunteers were asked to take part in a ‘short’ experiment - they were to place one hand into a bowl of water at an exact 14C (cold enough to be quite unpleasant) for 60 seconds. The same group were also asked to take part in a ‘long’ experiment – to place their other hand in a bowl of water at 14C for 90 seconds. However, unknown to the volunteers, a small amount of warmer water was added to this bowl in the last 30 seconds which raised the temperature to a slightly warmer 15C. Some did the ‘short’ experiment first, others did the ‘long’ experiment first... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2017/warm-water/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:22:50 GMT 3028 Alan Smith Going in to negotiate with a party way bigger and in theory more powerful than you, can be a daunting experience. But before you hop onto the back foot and cower into the meeting, have a think about resetting your internal clock by thoughtfully estimating the power that you have, the source of this power and the way you use that power in the negotiation... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2017/its-not-about-how-big-you-are/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:22:49 GMT 3026 Stephen White You might have missed a news item reported in the London Evening Standard a few weeks ago which if you had seen it would have given you a quiet moment of schadenfreude. Cherie Blair was gazumped. The story went that she offered £2.75m for a house in Marylebone and her offer was accepted, until the twice ex-wife of Elon Musk, actress Talulah Riley bid £3m and stole it from under her nose. Picture the scene... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2017/climate-of-change/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:22:48 GMT 3024 The Scotwork Team The dilemmas continue in Part 2: Do we make the first proposal or respond? Do we bluff or not? And how do we define a good deal? https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2017/dilemmas-of-a-negotiator-part-2/ Thu, 14 Mar 2024 14:39:12 GMT 3022 Alan Smith The truth is sometimes you simply can’t. The dreadful news that is filling the news this week is of the terrorist attack in Manchester in which 22 people died and as I am writing this 64 people remain in hospital injured, 20 of whom are critical. How can anyone make sense of a child dying? Of a moment of pleasure for a young person celebrating the end of exams turning into a nightmare of unimaginable proportion? Or of the terrorist who sees a solution in bloodshed? https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2017/trying-to-make-sense/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:22:47 GMT 3020 Stephen White The car-crash interview of Diane Abbott on LBC Radio was the first of many I expect we will hear during the election process. For as long as politicians are poorly briefed, manifesto promises incorrectly costed with policies not properly thought through they will struggle in the face of good interviewers whose goal is to catch them out on data issues and produce cringe-making sound bites for the entertainment of the public. Laura Kuenssberg’s seven-time question to Jeremy Corbyn about his commitment to take the UK out of the EU whatever the deal achieved at the end of the two year negotiation in her interview with him on Tuesday (the data-answer to which was a simple Yes or No) left Corbyn looking unsure of his own policy, and was the segment of the interview that led the news at the expense of focussing on Labour Party policy announcements... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2017/on-the-ropes/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:22:46 GMT 3018 Annabel Shorter Last week Theresa may declared herself that she will be ‘a bloody difficult woman’ in a warning to Jean-Claude Juncker regarding her likely stance in the upcoming Brexit negotiations. We are told that this was a criticism levelled at her by Ken Clarke some time ago. However, she said this with a degree of a pride, and I have my suspicions that she may well be right to be so. The issue of gender in negotiation is a fascinating one. Some time ago I was working with a prestigious, blue-chip organisation, training their buyers to improve their negotiating skills. They doubtless have in place all of the correct policies on diversity and social responsibility and I know that they are vehemently protective of their reputation... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2017/difficult-woman/ Thu, 14 Mar 2024 14:37:53 GMT 3016 Alan Smith Lots of people see negotiating as a series of tricks, tactics and levers, something of a game designed to undermine confidence and wrest control. They can be creative, innovative even, and against the unskilled often effective. The problem with a tactical approach, though, is when you come up against a skilled opponent. Anybody who watched England play Italy in the recent six nations rugby championship will have seen the Italians adopt a tactical approach that Eddie Jones, the England coach suggested was not rugby, but basketball. A crazy aberration. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2017/shame-on-me/ Fri, 24 Jan 2025 15:59:28 GMT 3014 Stephen White In her most recent movie The Last Word Shirley McLaine plays a crabby old rich-woman control freak, founder of a successful advertising agency in her early years, now contemplating her demise. She commissions her own obituary needing to know what it will look like. But she has been a crabby control freak all her life; from her ex-husband to her estranged daughter and her scarred work colleagues and ‘friends’ no-one has a good word to say about her. So with the help of the obituary writer she embarks on a project to redeem her reputation with those who dislike her so much... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2017/rehabilitation/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:22:44 GMT 3012 Alan Smith Tommy Cooper was one of the funniest comedians ever. How do I know? Well partly because he has 13 of the best jokes in the top 50 gags of all time. A personal favourite being, “heard the one about two aerials meeting on a roof, falling in love, and getting married? The ceremony was rubbish but the reception was brilliant”. Telling a good joke is not just about the content. It is also in the timing of the delivery. The same could also be said about negotiation. Picking your time to enter into a negotiation can have a significant impact on its progression and your outcome. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2017/it-is-all-in-the-timing/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:22:43 GMT 3010 Alan Smith Not anymore. We’ve all seen them. Movies when a cry goes out for a doctor on board. If you fly United and you are a doctor you should put your head down, because you may be about to be thrown off the flight. What a disaster! For everybody concerned. A doctor was violently removed from a United Airlines flight by aviation police officials at Chicago’s O’Hare international airport on Sunday, in an incident captured and shared via social media several million times on video by fellow passengers. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2017/is-there-a-doctor-on-board/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:22:43 GMT 3008 Robin Copland I suspect that the Brexit negotiations will provide a fruitful source of negotiating stories over the next two or three years (longer – much longer, if you believe some commentators), so I apologise in advance to our many overseas readers. It is instructive and, dare I say, amusing to watch people • Who really do not know what a negotiation actually is • Who have no experience of sitting in a room with a hard-nosed negotiator on the other side of the table and what it feels like make unguarded comments that sound good in a sound bite. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2017/is-no-deal-always-better-than-a-bad-deal/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:22:42 GMT 3006 Robin Copland So what exactly happened yesterday in the House of Commons during the Prime Minister’s Brexit statement to the House of Commoms on 29 March? People have either congratulated Theresa May or derided her along predictable lines, but I maintain that what was actually happening was that the UK delivered its opening statement for the upcoming and tortuous two-year negotiation with the EU. Forget the 9 months leading up to this opening statement. Forget the salvoes and the posturing. Forget the talk about “hard Brexit” and partnerships and access to the open market. Forget them all. Yesterday in parliament is where the negotiation proper started. The prime minister stood at the dispatch box and laid out the UK’s position. She outlined her long-term aims for the negotiations - the targets towards which she expects her negotiating teams to aim. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2017/opening-statement/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:22:41 GMT 3004 Robin Copland Just when is a deal not a deal…? I heard this story from a friend of mine the other week; there are some lessons to be learned! So, my pal is a developer and is building some houses on what is essentially a square site. Two sides of the square can be accessed from the road in a neighbouring housing estate and the other two are beside a field owned by another developer. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2017/muck-shift/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:22:40 GMT 3002 Stephen White In the world of internet start-ups and disruptive technology the valuations placed on popular new entrants into a market continue to be completely out of whack with their profitability, as they were in the dot.com boom and bust 20 years ago. Companies with a market valuation of $1 billion or more, known as tech unicorns, include Snap Inc. the owners of Snapchat, Airbnb, and Uber. Snapchat is currently valued at between $25-35 billion. But it has never made a profit and its net worth, assets less liabilities, is only $1.5 billion. Airbnb has a market value of around $30 billion, about $7 billion more than physical competitor Hilton, but turned in its first profit only in the second half of 2016. And Uber, currently valued at between $60 -70 billion, made a $3 billion loss last year according to Bloomberg... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2017/taxi/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:22:39 GMT 2998 Stephen White Earlier this week with friends in Venice for the end of Carnevale. Thousands of people milling around St Mark’s Square watching the processions. Hundreds of human mannequins dressed up in renaissance costumes, wearing outrageous face masks, and posing for the photographers and the tourists. The hotels and restaurants bursting, the gondoliers fully employed, even at €80 for 30 minutes. There is a real buzz in the city, and the unseasonal warm weather and blue sky was the cherry on the cake. We couldn't stop smiling. Carnevale is an experience which should be on everyone’s bucket list. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2017/masking-the-problem/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:22:38 GMT 2996 Keith Stacey There are a number of dilemmas we face as negotiators. In part 1, we firstly look at whether we should actually negotiate or not? Secondly, how do we negotiate in regards to the value of the relationship? To Negotiate or Not To negotiate or not is the obvious first dilemma and contrary to popular belief not everything is negotiable. Negotiating is one way of resolving conflict, but it is not the only way... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2017/dilemmas-of-a-negotiator/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:22:37 GMT 2994 Robin Copland I have been an interested (though fortunately not involved) bystander watching the protracted negotiations between Southern Rail, the train operating company (TOC) that runs the services for a large part of “commuter-land” in the south of England and the trade unions representing the train drivers and guards. This is simplistic, but if you live to the south of London and commute into the city to work, then the chances are that you use a Southern Rail train to do so. No Southern Rail trains? Chaos. Simple as that... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2017/when-is-a-deal-not-a-deal/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:22:36 GMT 2992 Alan Smith It was in 1996 that Deep Blue, an IBM chess computer first beat the best human chess player, Garry Kasparov, becoming the first computer system to defeat a reigning world champion in a match under standard chess tournament time controls. Kasparov accused IBM of cheating and demanded a rematch. IBM refused and retired Deep Blue... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2017/terminated/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:22:35 GMT 2990 Alan Smith It has been an interesting few weeks for Theresa May. A bit of a Chinese curse that, to always live in interesting times. Firstly, she has had to deal with the new US president, where I find it hard to believe that Trump holds any attraction to her, no matter how opposite he is. Then there was the potential ban on Sir Mo Farah travelling to the US, averted by of all people, ex rival Boris Johnson. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2017/not-telling/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:22:35 GMT 2988 Stephen White There has been much talk over the last few weeks about what might happen if, at the end of 2 years of negotiation with the EU after Article 50 is triggered, no deal is agreed. ‘Cliff edge’ refers to this doomsday situation where the UK is out of Europe and not in anything except trouble. Hence the focus on transitional arrangements which Mrs May said she didn’t/did want within the same paragraph of her speech last week – see the previous Scotwork blog for this and other peculiarities in that speech. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2017/cliff-edge/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:22:34 GMT 2986 Stephen White "That is why I have said before — and will continue to say — that every stray word and every hyped-up media report is going to make it harder for us to get the right deal for Britain." Theresa May has long repeated the mantra that she is not going to reveal the details of Britain’s Brexit negotiating tactics, because that would be poor negotiating practice. Yet in her speech on Tuesday she did just that. Here are some verbatim extracts – what deductions could you make from the highlighted words if you were a European bureaucrat charged with analysing Britain’s negotiating position... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2017/mays-brexit-speech/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:22:33 GMT 2984 Alan Smith I was thinking, as one is tended to do, over the January period, of any goals I could do with having as we waltz into 2017. Eat well, exercise regularly, spend more time on my relationships are my clear life goals. Frankly ones that we all probably share. But from a negotiation perspective, which after all is what I teach and consult in for a living, what three things would help people less focused on this area than I, make a distinct and significant improvement in their negotiation outcomes... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2017/three-things-to-do-in-2017/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:22:33 GMT 2983 Stephen White Like the conference speaker who has the misfortune to be given the slot immediately after a brilliant raconteur, 2017 is unlikely to be a ‘wow’ year, following on as it does from a humdinger 2016. Unlikely, but not impossible, and it certainly got off to a great start with the unexpected resignation of the UK’s Permanent Representative to the EU Sir Ivan Rogers, an event which would probably have been called PRexit if it wasn’t so easy to mishear. Not only did he surprise everyone with his impeccable timing - the first Brexit bombshell of the year – but in his swan song note to colleagues he laid into the Government for its appalling state of Brexit preparation... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2017/the-power-of-disruptive-behaviour/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:22:32 GMT 2981 Alan Smith Well it’s nearly here. The time of year when even the hardest nosed of commercial creatures switch off for the season. At Scotwork we are no different. We are putting away our planning tools, our diagnostic apps, our value creation engines and negotiation logs. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2016/a-very-merry-christmas/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:21:22 GMT 2979 Robin Copland You know, it’s not all sweetness and light in Lapland. People think (and to be fair, why shouldn’t they?), that all the work takes place on 24th December. Santa gets on his sledge and travels the world distributing largesse hither and thither. No one ever asks though what happens for the rest of the year. What – do they think that this mammoth distribution happens by magic? Well, I’ll admit that there is a bit of the magical and mystical about the whole operation; the reindeer-drawn sledge, for example, is a bit of a mystery, but for the rest – well, we’re talking slickness and speed and management of change and… But I’m ahead of myself... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2016/early-christmas-message/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:21:22 GMT 2977 Robin Copland People think of negotiating as “that thing you do when you’re buying a car” (you’re probably haggling), or “that time you took a particularly sinuous series of bends at speed without driving over the cliff edge” (you were probably driving). At Scotwork, we are of the view that negotiating is that thing you do when something happens to make the status quo no longer tenable; in other words, external factors disrupt an ongoing relationship to the extent that contracts and relationships need to be re-aligned... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2016/brexit-its-not-all-bad-news/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:21:21 GMT 2975 Stephen White In our contemporary world of hyper-uncertainty, where we are being constantly surprised (and often upset) by unexpected outcomes, data would appear to be our friend. The more information we collect and interpret, the better we can analyse the past and the more certain we can be of the future. Data reduces uncertainty. Not. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2016/the-fallacy-of-data/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:21:20 GMT 2973 Alan Smith Two questions: When negotiating, do you want the other side to act reasonably? And, Is it a good strategy to be reasonable when negotiating? Most people will say yes to the first question. It would be crazy not to. The second however creates a bit more of a dilemma. We are sometimes tempted to go high or low, pad and exaggerate what we really anticipate being able to achieve. Because that is what we should do right?... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2016/play-nice/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:21:19 GMT 2971 Alan Smith I am a big fan of Bob Dylan. Well his music anyway. Other people, not quite so much. A member of the Swedish Academy that recently offered Mr Dylan the Noble Prize has accused Bob of being both rude and arrogant. Apparently Bob had refused to return phone calls or even acknowledge the offer and spurned the academy rather as one would spurn a rabid dog! As the Daily Mail reported, to accuse Bob Dylan of being rude is like attacking Humpty Dumpty for being an egg. He is legendary for his ambivalence to fans. He turns his back on them and grunts between songs in his live shows on stage. In person he is no better... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2016/like-no-one-is-watching/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:21:19 GMT 2969 Stephen White I predict a spike in the birth-rate at the beginning of August 2017 because thousands of people, in the US and around the world, were making babies last night. There is much anecdotal evidence that after a trauma people take solace with each other. How many couples will have gone to bed last night whispering to each other ‘WTF (Will Trump Flourish?)’ before rolling over and occupying themselves with other things? https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2016/making-babies-called-donald/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:21:18 GMT 2967 Robin Copland Complicated negotiations often involve different meetings, different personnel, different issues and, in the case of the upcoming Brexit negotiations, different countries! The key word in this kind of negotiation is alignment and that involves a number of different factors and considerations. We can learn from the insect world; think bees! Perhaps first and foremost, there needs to be a central “go-to” point where all the information and meeting notes are collated and stored. It is vital to have a central hive of information that teams preparing for a new round of negotiation can reference. The old phrase, “singing off the same hymn sheet” has a certain resonance in this regard. The workers need a point of reference... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2016/busy-as-brexiteer-bees/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:21:17 GMT 2965 Alan Smith What do Joni Mitchell and Boris Johnston have in common? Well very little I suspect, but they do both share an interesting way of looking at issues before finally making up their minds. “Both Sides Now” is one of Joni Mitchells most famous songs and appeared on her 1969 Album, Clouds. She says that she has investigated life, love and clouds from both sides, the inspiration being that she was on a transatlantic flight and looked down on the clouds rather than the more customary up. Boris Johnson was quoted in the press this weekend of having a similar way of making up his mind when considering his view of whether to support Britain’s In or Out vote over the now decided Brexit. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2016/i-look-at-brexit-from-both-sides-now/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:21:17 GMT 2963 Robin Copland This isn’t going to be popular; to write it – even to think it - sticks in my throat as it offends against my innate sense of fair play and good will to all people, but there really are times when I want to take our elected representatives to one side and slap them about the face. They pontificate and they grandstand; they puff themselves up into rice krispies of righteous indignation; they adopt their “holier than thou” positions; they occasionally demonstrate a frightening lack of common sense and commercial nous and, at the same time, they would have us weaken our position in future negotiations. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2016/when-are-eu-citizens-bargaining-chips/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:21:16 GMT 2961 Robin Copland What do Ben & Jerry's ice cream, Pot Noodles, Persil, Dove soap and Marmite have in common? They are all made by Unilever. What does Unilever and Tesco have in common? Dave Lewis, Tesco’s current boss, spent most of his career at Unilever before being poached by Tesco. What does all of this have to do with negotiating? Well, having been in a stand-off that threatened to damage both parties, heads were banged together on Thursday 13 October and a deal was done. We at Scotwork have constantly maintained that external factors are the most common cause of the kinds of conflicts that need negotiated solutions and what happened between Tesco and Unilever is a classic example. External factors do not come much bigger than Brexit... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2016/stand-off-in-the-isles/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:21:15 GMT 2959 Rafael Castellanos and Silvio Escudero A couple of weeks ago we were surprised by the results of the “referendum” in Colombia. Colombians faced this question: “Do you support the final agreement to end the conflict and build a long-lasting and stable peace?”. This question referred to the agreement reached by the Colombian Government and FARC (oldest guerrilla group in the country). It was an agreement to put an end to a 52-years conflict that brought to the country thousands of casualties and displaced people, not to mention the impact of this conflict in the social and economic development of the country for decades.... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2016/colombian-peace-process/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:21:14 GMT 2957 Yannis Dimarakis By November 9th, we will probably know the name of the next president of the USA. As the polls are not decisive, the statistical probability of Trump winning, is a real one. The negotiating profile of incumbent American presidents is instrumental to the behavior of “the country with the greatest influence on the planet”, on a range of issues, ranging from global challenges like climate change, to regional trouble spots like Syria, North Korea etc... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2016/donald-trump-s-negotiating-profile/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:21:13 GMT 2954 Alan Smith Tomorrow I have an appointment at the dentist. I can state with pretty much certainty and I admit comfort, that he knows something about teeth. Partly because the last time I went to see him with a damaged filling I left with it fixed, which frankly it would be difficult for someone without any knowledge of teeth to have resolved. Unless of course he had been very lucky that day and managed to wing it... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2016/the-infinite-negotiation-monkey-cage/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:21:12 GMT 2952 Stephen White News of Brangelina’s intention to divorce arriving on the same day as the critical acclaim given to the new Channel 4 drama National Treasure about celebrity sexual malpractice gave rise to a dinner table conversation about our capability to correctly read peoples’ underlying personality. We all recognise that in the febrile atmosphere inhabited by A, B, C, and Z listers the norms of society tend to be warped; they and we believe that they are more prone to accusations of bribery, corruption, to divorce and adultery. But in terms of the individual celebrity how good is our instinctive sniff-test. When we first hear bombshell news about a famous person is our reaction ‘Yes, not surprised, I knew that was a likely scenario’, or ‘No, I would never have thought them capable of that’... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2016/the-sniff-test/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:21:12 GMT 2950 Alan Smith “No” has emerged as an early contender for the least popular word in the English language, as Oxford Dictionaries ran a global search to find the least favourite English word. Starting what it hoped will be the largest global survey into people’s language gripes, the dictionary publisher was inviting English speakers all over the world to answer a range of language questions under the One Word Initiative starting with the quest to find the least popular English word. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2016/no-no-no/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:21:11 GMT 2948 Annabel Shorter The subject of the Gender Pay gap entered the news again recently following a report from the Institute for Fiscal Studies. It found that although down from previous levels of 23% and 28% in 2003 and 1993 respectively, differentials remain stubbornly large at 18% and reach a frankly absurd level of 33% 12 years after the birth of a women’s first child. I was particularly interested in the fact that for women with higher levels of education, A-levels or graduates, the gap had remained as wide as 20 years ago. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2016/the-gender-agenda/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:21:11 GMT 2946 Stephen White August 31st: The End of the Silly Season. The UK, against all the odds, voted to leave the EU. In the USA Donald Trump survived despite chronic foot-in-mouth disease. In Rio the Russian Olympic team appeared phoenix-like to take part despite a ban as punishment for institutionalised drug taking. In France a truck became a terror weapon and modest Muslim women were hassled on beaches as a result. In Germany 28,000 workers were laid off by VW because a dispute with a Bosnian seat cover supplier escalated and the supplier stopped delivering. And celebrity magazines around the world announced that the Duchess of Cambridge is pregnant... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2016/silly-season/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:21:10 GMT 2944 Alan Smith Team GB flew in to Heathrow on Tuesday morning this week, clanking with their scores of medals, on flight number BA2016, a British Airways 747 repainted with a golden nose and renamed “victoRIOus”. The best Olympic results for these Glorious Isles in over a century. To come second in the medals table is brilliant, but to be honest should not come as such a big surprise as it clearly has. I wonder if that gob-smacking surprise is just a function of typical British pessimism; we love an underdog, or understatement and one of the worst insults you can make in the UK is to tell someone they think a lot of themselves. Jason Kenny is such a dude precisely because he seems not to want to be one... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2016/success-as-a-priority/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:21:10 GMT 2942 Sam Macbeth A recent article in The Wall Street Journal headlines “Apple’s Hard-Charging Tactics Hurt TV Expansion - In search of its new big thing, possibly TV, Apple has alienated cable providers and networks with an assertive negotiating style; ‘time is on my side’" they are saying Apparently, they’ve been in discussions with various potential media partners since 2009, with no end in sight. During this period, Apple’s demands have included things such as long term frozen monthly rate per viewer, access to selected premium channels, full ‘on demand’ seasons of hit shows, rights to a vast cloud based digital video recorder, and set top box Apple ID sign in. They haven’t quite asked for the kitchen sink yet. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2016/a-grapple-for-apple/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:21:09 GMT 2940 Alan Smith My wife is a very reasonable woman. Or so she tells me. No, she actually is. We have been married for over 30 years and she has put up with me for a start. To be honest its not just me she is reasonable with. The kids always go to her for emotional support, (me if it’s cash or a lift), I rarely, if ever, see her anything other than calm and she runs a classroom as a primary school teacher with 18 excitable 7 year olds. You have to be big on inner calm... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2016/incompatible/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:21:08 GMT 2938 Robin Copland There is a big debate going on at the moment in the UK – and especially in Scotland about the renewal of the UK’s nuclear deterrent. Perhaps some background might explain where we are as things stand right now. The second generation of the UK’s nuclear armed, submarine-based deterrent is in mid-life and decisions have to be made now to replace the Trident fleet of four submarines. It is in the nature of the size of the UK’s fleet that these boats are replaced all at the one time (spread over three or four years, of course) rather than the rolling programme in the USA, for example. The debate comes to a head every twenty to twenty-five years and, as you can imagine, passions run high on both sides of what is, in essence, a binary discussion – you are either “for it” or you are “against it”. There are no half measures... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2016/nuclear-deterrent/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:21:07 GMT 2936 John McMillan Over the last 40 years I have observed more than 5,000 hours of negotiation in over 30 countries and that has taught me the about the good negotiating behaviour that causes negotiations to succeed. For the purpose of this blog I shall limit myself to the top five and see how many of these might be present in the UK’s attempt to extricate itself from its 43-year relationship with the European Union... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2016/5-pointers-to-a-negotiating-disaster/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:21:07 GMT 2934 Richard Savage I was rather intrigued by a restaurant in North London, which I heard about recently. Mostly because some friends of mine, who were recommending it, were particularly excited about the fact that it was ‘all you can eat’. Now I don’t know about you, but ‘all you can eat’ in my book reminds me of brightly lit windows promising more cholesterol and MSG than one thought possible or healthy. And indeed the preserve of worn out Leicester Square tourists and hungry students... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2016/sushi-mania/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:21:06 GMT 2933 Robin Copland You really couldn’t make this up. Prior to the recent Brexit referendum, there was a negotiation between David Cameron, the UK prime minister and Jean-Claude Juncker, the former Luxembourg prime minister and current commissioner of the European Union. Cameron, a very bright man indeed but with limited negotiating experience, went into bat against Juncker, a very bright man indeed but with limited negotiating experience. Their careers had been remarkably similar – early days as parliamentary aides, followed in Cameron’s case with a stint in the commercial world working for Carlton Communications, followed by election to their respective countries’ parliaments. Juncker studied law but had never practised. Neither had much, if any exposure to the cut and thrust of commercial negotiation. I sometimes wish that our politicians had more such experience, but there we are... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2016/you-couldnt-make-it-up/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:21:06 GMT 2931 Alan Smith The hunt for negotiators has begun on a Global scale. Offers of help from all over the place, New Zealand, Australia and no doubt every part of the Commonwealth and beyond to help the UK deal with the inevitable day to day transactional not to mention the framing and strategic negotiations that will result from the Brexit. Surely we are not that light on experience in highly complex, multi- partied negotiations that we have to import them from literally the other side of the world... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2016/made-for-sharing/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:21:05 GMT 2929 Stephen White ‘So what are you doing about Brexit’ demanded my 90-year-old Mum. ‘Why should I be doing anything about it?’ I asked. ‘Because every other sentence on the news channels since Friday morning has contained the word Negotiation’ she said. Point taken. Not only Teresa and Michael haggling about who should be the next Prime Minister, Tom Watson colluding with Angela Eagle to avoid being the next Leader of the Opposition, Nicola Sturgeon desperately searching for a negotiating partner in Brussels – anyone will do - but most importantly the UK Government-to-be negotiating the relationship between the UK and Europe with 27 other heads of state, once the exit process has been triggered. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2016/as-smart-as-mr-bean/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:21:04 GMT 2927 David Bannister I am writing this blog a mere two days after the UK was shocked at the news that a young female member of Parliament was murdered in a street in her constituency where she was born and brought up. Jo Cox was, everyone agrees, a principled and much loved and respected MP who represented a culturally diverse constituency where people of all religions and none are united in the grief and respect they have shown for her. Among the many tributes paid to her in the short time since her death, one has stuck in my mind. Jo Cox was a campaigner and activist previously employed by Oxfam where she had travelled to and worked extensively in many of the world’s major areas of conflict. She was a fearless campaigner on refugee issues... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2016/disagreeing-with-grace/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:21:04 GMT 2925 Sebastian Bacewicz It’s common knowledge that being rude to people may not be the best way of achieving what you want. In fact, the effect of being rude will mostly achieve the very opposite: if you're rude to somebody, they're more than likely going to be rude right back to you, and certainly less likely to give you what you want. A resulting vicious circle of rudeness ensues, and a bad deal - or no deal at all – achieved in the end. New research conducted by the University of Florida suggests that an initial act of rudeness can cause a ripple effect where people who experienced rudeness are then more likely to be rude to other people, who then will be rude to others. In other words, rudeness can spread in a similar way to a virus... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2016/like-a-virus/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:21:03 GMT 2923 Alan Smith Been a very bad year for my heroes so far. The loss of David Bowie, Prince, Glenn Fry, Victoria Wood and now the sporting legend that was Muhammad Ali. Tragic. If you have not read the Fight by Norman Mailer, you should. The description of the legendary fight between Ali and George Foreman has to be one of the best books ever written about sport. Even for a non-fight-lover it is a brutal study of the pugilist’s skill. Mailer describes the dynamics of the battle in graphic detail comparing it to a chess match and to a piece of art. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2016/muhammad-says-knock-you-out/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:21:02 GMT 2920 Sam Macbeth Firstly apologies to the the 1980’s pop group Madness for the title of this blog. The Sun newspaper reported last week that “David Cameron finally manages to get a good deal – after negotiating a second-hand Nissan Micra for Samantha”. Apparently he drove this off the forecourt from the car dealer in his local constituency in Witney, Oxfordshire – very different from the public office £200K Jaguar which he rides in for work... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2016/dave-likes-driving-in-sams-car/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:21:01 GMT 2918 Robin Copland I do not suppose that there is a perfect way of sacking someone. It is never nice and never easy – either for the manager doing the deed or indeed the victim. Neither, I suppose, is there is a perfect way of doing it badly, but if there is, then surely Manchester United plc has come pretty close in their handling of Louis van Gaal’s dismissal earlier this week. You could not have made it up as speculation mounted that Jose Mourinho, the self-styled “special one” was set to be named as van Gaal’s successor... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2016/youre-fired/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:21:01 GMT 2917 Alan Smith Walk out the door? Maybe not quite as easy as you may think. The challenge for anyone in a long term relationship, business or pleasure, and particularly one experiencing difficulty is: do I invest in trying to fix it or cut my losses? Look at the massive challenge surrounding the Brexit campaign... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2016/go-on-now-go/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:21:00 GMT 2915 Robin Copland The fathers of Scottish devolution came up with a system so complicated as to confuse even the most passionate observer and student of the political scene north of the border. There were three guiding principles • To preserve the best of the Westminster “first past the post” system, which provides a clear result and a named MP for a constituency • To ensure that those who voted for a party other than the winning party still had a chance or representation in the parliament (there is a second vote for list MPs in each constituency) • To make an overall majority government a rare occurrence – and it is this requirement that has caused the hideous complication! https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2016/scottish-jaw-jaw/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:21:00 GMT 2913 Stephen White Just about a year ago, as voting in the UK General Election came to an end, an exit poll predicted that the Conservative Party would win a 10 seat majority. This was so out of whack with the estimates made by all the opinion poll experts that Paddy Ashdown, a well-known and well respected Liberal Democrat politician promised on TV that if the exit poll prediction was right he would literally eat his hat. The prediction turned out to be correct... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2016/predictions/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:20:59 GMT 2911 Stephen White I am sitting by the hospital bedside of an elderly relative who fell last week and broke her hip. It is Tuesday, the first day of this week’s junior doctor’s strike. The ward is functioning normally as far as I can see; there is a normal complement of doctors on duty, but unusually there are also groups of more senior consultants who appear to be hunting in packs of 3 or 4, perhaps for safety. There was no picket line when I came into the hospital and it was as difficult to find a car parking space today as it has been all week which suggests that most outpatient appointments are proceeding as usual... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2016/plain-speaking/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:20:59 GMT 2909 Alan Smith When I tell people what I do for a living, lots of people are intrigued, often they don’t really get what it is. I like to tell them that negotiation is the art of getting more of what you want, that seems to intrigue them more. Hopefully that turns into a business opportunity, tart that I am. Many others are appalled and feel intense sympathy for those around me and particularly my family and friends. But all of them think how exhausting and time consuming it must be to be constantly looking to negotiate a better deal in every relationship all of the time... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2016/should-i-negotiate-everything/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:20:58 GMT 2908 Stephen White Confidence is one of the important attributes of a good negotiator. Many HR recruiters believe that this is an attribute they need to look for in those who will be conducting negotiations for the organisation (sales, marketing, procurement, Board level), so that testing for confidence as a personality trait is therefore very important I might be splitting hairs but I would like to suggest that although self-confidence is important to good negotiated outcomes it is much more important to successful persuasion. Why is this important? – because when a persuasive argument succeeds then the need to trade or compromise is reduced or eliminated... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2016/tell-me-a-story/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:20:58 GMT 2906 Robin Copland “The great thing about negotiating is that it enables people – often from diverse backgrounds and polarised positions – to come together and strike deals to the long-term benefit of both parties. You do not have to agree to do business or sign treaties. The whole process of trading enables participants to park their differences for the greater good.” I wrote that last week, but as I concluded the essay, I realised that perhaps the most difficult negotiations you will ever get involved in (apart from your personal terms and conditions at your workplace, or perhaps negotiating where... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2016/negotiating-differences-2/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:20:57 GMT 2904 Robin Copland The great thing about negotiating is that it enables people – often from diverse backgrounds and polarised positions – to come together and strike deals to the long-term benefit of both parties. You do not have to agree to do business or sign treaties. The whole process of trading enables participants to park their differences for the greater good. The funny thing is that negotiation often follows on from a period of conflict, the resolution of which has failed by using other methods of conflict resolution. When the Great War ended in 1918, the victorious side imposed such draconian terms on the losing side that many believe that the Second World War was merely a continuation of the first. In that case, the victors imposed their will (as was their right as they saw it as the winners) to the detriment of long-term peace... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2016/negotiating-differences/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:20:56 GMT 2902 Stephen White Why did President Putin suddenly and unexpectedly announce last week that Russia was pulling its armed forces out of Syria? It was an announcement that took every political commentator by surprise, and subsequently there were as many theories to explain the situation as there were commentators. Maybe he was bluffing, and not really pulling out at all. Maybe he couldn’t sustain the war effort financially. Maybe it was playing badly to his domestic audience. Maybe he had become irritated that the man he was supporting, President Assad, had become too arrogant after he discovered that Russia was to be an active ally... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2016/the-strategy-of-crazy/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:20:55 GMT 2900 Alan Smith Well there are actually! Negotiation involves cold logic, cutting through all the verbiage, careful and clear analysis of the volatile and unpredictable environment before coolly selecting the correct option. Problem is we rarely get the time when making the hundreds of decisions we need to make each day in the negotiations that we do in both our commercial and personal lives. Emotions play a huge part in the actions we take and to some extent the brains higher function has been argued is to sort out many of the choices we have already made and make sense of them after the fact... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2016/no-hard-feelings/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:20:55 GMT 2898 Stephen White A BBC reporter recently went to the Island of Lewis, part of the Outer Hebrides off the coast of Scotland, to gauge reaction to the increasing likelihood that Donald Trump will be the Republican presidential candidate. Donald Trump’s mother comes from Lewis; he is so to speak one of theirs. The journalist found that the islanders were less than enthusiastic about him... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2016/bragging/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:20:54 GMT 2896 Alan Smith When are you at your most creative? It is a question I often ask in the classroom when I am running negotiation skills development classes. Two retorts I often hear are: “Why?” (people are reluctant to answer unless they know why I want to know, cynical bunch) or “When I am under extreme pressure.” Let’s look at these one by one... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2016/the-creative-negotiator/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:20:53 GMT 2894 Stephen White We have a problem with my mother. She is a gregarious 90 year old, has successfully lived on her own since my Dad died 10 years ago, she is full of life and bright as a button, lots of friends, goes out to play cards five times a week. Until three weeks ago. Her arthritic knees gave up, and she became virtually immobile. She can hobble around her small apartment with the aid of a 3-wheeled ‘walker’, but the stairs are impossible, and she lives one floor up in a building without an elevator. She has become housebound. So she and the family have some decisions to make. Do we try to find a ground floor flat, which would allow her to go out, at least as far as a taxi which could take her to her friends and the shops? Should we aim for a warden assisted flat, where there would be a speedy rescue service if she fell over. Or should we find a residential care home where she could make new friends and spend the rest of her life (and we hope it will be a long one) being looked after... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2016/my-mother-and-the-eu/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:20:53 GMT 2892 Robin Copland It’s not that David Cameron does not have his troubles to seek as he shuttles around Europe trying to secure support for a modified agreement with the UK’s fellow European Union member states, but I bet you he wishes he had not been quite so cavalier as to promise an “in-out referendum” in the period leading up to the 2015 UK general election. Politically, he felt that he had to do it to give some kind of sop to the so-called “Euro-sceptic” wing of the Conservative Party and to prevent further haemorrhaging of potential supporters to UKIP... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2016/no-pressure-then/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:20:52 GMT 2890 Stephen White I had a haircut today, and learnt something simple but useful. Chatting to the barber I asked if he had ever been to a particular local restaurant. Yes, he said, but it was about 5 years ago and it wasn’t very good. He had found a small piece of plastic in his mouth whilst eating his meal, and he was unimpressed with the response from the waiter. He explained. “I said to him, I am not complaining or making a fuss, because I am not that kind of person, but I think you should know that this piece of plastic was in my food. The waiter looked at it and said ‘Cool, man. Thanks for telling me’, and wandered off... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2016/haircut-101/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:20:51 GMT 2888 David Bannister A few years ago I read an interesting article based on the work of a renowned US business school which gave the results of studies into acquisitions and mergers in international business over a period of years. The conclusion, briefly summarised, was that what these deals produced in practice was a long way short of what had been predicted for them at the outset – fewer than a third of deals met the expectations which had been heralded for them when they were being contemplated and shareholders were being convinced to endorse them. It is interesting that some of Scotwork’s emerging research into negotiating behaviours (we will be saying more about this in the months to come) indicates that untrained negotiators don’t see the negotiating process as adding a great deal of long term business value or as strengthening relationships. It seems the process is just a necessary evil to many who have to carry it out. Trained negotiators, however, seem to have a different view... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2016/negotiating-future-proofed-deals/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:20:51 GMT 2886 Alan Smith My daughter is a fairly recent and slightly nervous driver. One of the benefits of the children getting older is that sporadically Dad’s cabs get a Saturday off, and even an occasional lift home from the pub after a couple of cheeky sherbets on a Friday night. On one such occasion I was surprised to note that my little girl was reluctant to use her full beam when driving, preferring to keep to dipped headlights even in the pitch of night... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2016/driving-with-dipped-headlights/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:20:50 GMT 2884 Alan Smith The ability to negotiate through conflict is obviously critical within any organisation, regardless of which side of the fence they happen to sit, and in reality most of us sit on both sides of the fence in the different situations we find ourselves in. Sometimes we are buying, other times we are selling. Often we are managing others and maybe we are being managed. Point is we have to be able to handle all of the above... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2016/negotiate-well/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:20:49 GMT 2882 Stephen White One of the defining qualities of a good negotiator is the ability to manufacture unusual tradeable variables apparently out of thin air. An example of this is how time is used as a variable. Most people would agree that a day comprises 24 hours. But management consultants know that a day in terms of charging fees is more likely to be 7 hours, so clients who need more than 7 hours find themselves paying for more than a day. Car rental companies define a day as any period up to 24 hours, so clients who want less than that still have to pay for the full 24 hours. So a ‘usual’ day becomes subverted into an ‘unusual’ day with a little creative thinking https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2016/cinq-a-sept/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:20:48 GMT 2880 Stephen White It occurred to me. The most prominent current industrial dispute in England, between the Government and the Junior Doctors, might be an excellent vehicle to analyse how Millennials (defined typically as born after 1983) negotiate, and whether Millennial traits have impacted on the negotiations. For non-UK readers; ‘junior doctors’ includes doctors from the time they leave medical school to the time when they are appointed as ‘Consultants’, typically about 10 years later. There are about 55,000 of them, a very important component of the medical provision in England (the dispute does not affect doctors in Scotland or Wales). The dispute dates back to 2012, when the employers announced that they wanted to update the terms of employing junior doctors. Negotiations have been on and off since then, but on Monday they broke down and the doctor’s union (the BMA) announced strikes for later this month... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2016/the-traitment-of-junior-doctors/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 12:20:47 GMT 2879 Simon Kelland Most "negotiations" with retailers are simple haggles; you don't need to deal with them and they don't need to sell to you so it's simply a case of trying to get the maximum discount in a one off sale. Not a lot of skill needed to do haggle other than doing a bit of homework on the market so you know what a good price looks like, having the courage to propose the price you're prepared to pay and the fortitude to walk away if you can't get a deal (assuming you have the time and energy to go down the street to another retailer to do it all over again)... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2015/negotiating-with-retailers/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:10:34 GMT 2877 Alan Smith Is there a difference between telling lies or just being misleading? I guess lying, rather like beauty, may be in the eye of the beholder. "I want you to listen to me. I'm going to say this again - I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky." Was this the most blatant lie in modern times? ... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2015/liar-liar-pants-on-fire/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:10:33 GMT 2874 Stephen White Recently the Sunday Times Travel section reported an unfortunate accident. A Mr Graham Davies booked a multi-flight trip from the UK to The Philippines. He used a travel agency called CheapOair; I think that was his first mistake. I mean, would you? It’s like enthusiastically calling Rubbish Plumbers Ltd to fix a leak, or Lackadaisical Accountants LLP to look after your tax affairs?... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2015/e-by-gum/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:10:31 GMT 2872 David Bannister Here in the UK in the Autumn and the first part of Winter a televisual phenomenon hits our screens on a Saturday night. It’s called ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ or just ‘Strictly’ to the real addicts. A number of so-called celebrities are partnered with professional dancers and week by week they compete against each other in a knockout competition where viewers’ votes decide which contestant will be eliminated each week. Almost ten million eager followers tune in to this programme in the months it is on our televisions. I am not usually one of them but my wife is an aficionado. So I find other things to do when this programme is airing. Except for a little bit of the programme this year when Jane calls me and says: ‘Katie’s dancing!’. This refers to one of this year’s contestants, Katie Derham who I really want to win (and so do lots of others, some because she is partnered with a male dancer of great good humour and demeanour who has never managed to progress far in the contest)... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2015/strictly-come-negotiating/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:10:30 GMT 2870 Alan Smith A short but important lesson in this week’s blog. The daughter of a friend of mine decided to buy a new fridge. One of those big American style jobbies with ice dispenser, flashing lights and a disco ball. I exaggerate a little (not that much to be honest), but you get the point. Her issue was what to do with the old one? https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2015/just-because-you-dont-want-it/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:10:30 GMT 2869 Robin Copland and Stephen White George Santanaya’s maxim that ‘those who fail to learn from the mistakes of their predecessors are destined to repeat them’ has a corollary. We should use the successes of the past and repeat our behaviour with the problems of today? In particular, can we replicate the negotiating behaviour which brought about the Irish peace agreement to effect a negotiated settlement in the Middle East, and stop the carnage of Paris on 13/11, perpetrated by ISIS? https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2015/no-discussion-just-death/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:10:29 GMT 2867 David Bannister I wrote in this blog about three weeks ago about the commitment given by the UK Prime Minister, David Cameron, to write to the President of the European Council, Donald Tusk, setting out the demands which the UK would make in its negotiations with the EU prior to a referendum of the British people some time before the end of 2017 which will decide if the UK remains a member of the EU. My blog concerned a draft letter published in the Daily Telegraph, one of our more serious newspapers, written by Eurosceptic MEP, Daniel Hannan. On 10 November, Mr Cameron wrote the letter to Donald Tusk anticipated by Hannan and published its contents. In brief summary they are: https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2015/a-signal-day-for-europe/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:10:29 GMT 2865 Alan Smith Am I reading this right? We're all getting fat because we eat too much and don't exercise enough. Right? Well, not if you look at the debate about fat versus sugar now playing out. For years it was thought fat was bad for you: it made you get fat, so low-fat food was good. But the 'fat is bad' dogma is being widely challenged. Carbohydrates, including sugar, are increasingly viewed as the evil, fattening, toxic ingredient. Avoid the fry up and you will be fine. But the trouble with fat in your food is that it makes it taste good and if you take it out you have to do something to make it palatable. Sugar... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2015/what-now/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:10:29 GMT 2864 Stephen White It is fashionable for radicals to kick against the political establishment. The rise of Jeremy Corbyn in the UK, Nicola Sturgeon in Scotland, Marine Le Pen in France, Alexis Tsipras in Greece and Ben Carson in the US are symptomatic of a public disillusionment with the power-broking traditional ruling classes. Similarly it is fashionable for journalists to kick big business. Starbucks for avoiding tax, VW for tucking-up consumers, Tesco for manipulating their suppliers into unfavourable trade terms, and FIFA (yes, FIFA is first and foremost a business) for corrupt practices... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2015/kicking-the-shit-out-of-big-business/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:10:28 GMT 2862 David Bannister Daniel Hannan is a British Member of the European Parliament (MEP), an institution for which he seems to have little warmth (as do quite a number of other British MEPs). The UK has announced its intention to renegotiate the terms of its membership of the European Union (EU) and to put the issue to a referendum in the next couple of years. The tactics of all of this are of more than passing interest to a negotiator. So far, our Prime Minister, David Cameron, has made only relatively vague references to what issues will be on the agenda when he negotiates with his fellow leaders, some of whom have wasted no time to tell Cameron what they think will not be on the agenda. Those of us interested in the negotiating tactics might conclude (as I do) that not saying what you want is not a great starting point on the journey to getting what you want... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2015/what-to-do/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:10:28 GMT 2860 Tom Feinson Tesco’s travails over the last few months are many and varied. Recently they topped a grocers code adjudicator list for supplier complaints an in a recent survey only Iceland received a lower score from its suppliers, it must be cold there. For those that operate in this environment I imagine that this comes as no surprise and to be honest in my experience Tesco are not markedly worse than any of the Big 4. They all appear to operate on the basis that they have all the power and they can break and fix supplier relationships at will but is the worm turning? https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2015/its-about-time/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:10:27 GMT 2858 Alan Smith Saturday night was a very dark time for me and many of my English friends and colleagues. Whilst no one actually died, it feels like many of our dreams and hopes did. If you enjoy sport and even if you don’t you will be able to imagine just how devastating it is for an Englishman that the National rugby team was knocked out of its home World Cup tournament, by their old nemesis Australia. The only host nation ever to have been knocked out of their own tournament at such an early stage, the loss came fast on the heels of the defeat by Wales the previous week, a game that frankly England really should have won... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2015/a-black-day-to-be-english/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:10:27 GMT 2856 John McMillan A story in the British press reads that oilfield services provider Halliburton has made an offer to swallow rival Baker Hughes for $35 billion; Schlumberger has weighed in on equipment maker Cameron International in a $14.8 billion deal. Companies that specialise in one part of the services market, for example offshore drilling, are in a difficult situation and are finding themselves squeezed by their customers to such an extent that, in order to survive, they are having to accept takeover deals from bigger rivals or risk going out of business; takeover deals that would not have been countenanced 18 months ago are suddenly now acceptable – even welcome... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2015/a-fine-line/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:10:26 GMT 2854 Romana Henry I go running regularly with a good friend and neighbour who happens to be a criminal defence lawyer. She is married to another lawyer who works in property and estate settlement etc. On our runs, we exchange tips and advice. She tells me how expensive it would be to divorce my husband, why I shouldn’t burn a red light and why helping my 17 year old daughter to obtain fake I.D. to get into pubs really isn’t a good idea. Why I really must make a will soon, when to put my house on the market and what home improvements not to bother with. In exchange I tell her how to get a better deal in her various negotiations and we regularly brain storm long lists of things which she would like to get in negotiations in exchange for things she knows she will have to concede. Quite a pair we are. Imagine how much faster we would run if we spoke less and breathed more.... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2015/give-to-get-when-persuasion-doesn-t-work/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:10:26 GMT 2852 Simon Letchford In 1978, US President Jimmy Carter brokered the first peace agreement between Egypt and a free Jewish nation in over 2,000 years. If email had been widely available, do you think he could have used it to save everyone 13 days at Camp David? Many clients ask me whether they should negotiate by email, expecting me to say no. My answer is always the same – “Absolutely. Sometimes.” Here are some trade-offs to consider before you press SEND... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2015/negotiating-by-email/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:10:25 GMT 2850 Alan Smith Habits are one of the most useful things we can slip into. If we didn’t habitually do much of our daily lives we would simply be unable to deal with the sensory overload that modern life has become. Just imagine what a drag it would be if we had to consciously think about breathing, blinking, walking, how to make a cup of tea? Nothing would get done... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2015/you-may-think-that/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:10:25 GMT 2848 Stephen White and Alan Smith Ever run out of petrol? Well it seems that more and more of us have. Last year over 800,000 motorists reportedly ran dry. Research shows the number running out of petrol or diesel has risen every year since 2011, when the figure was a third lower. Men made up most of the 827,000 who ignored or chanced their arm when the fuel warning light came on. Are we becoming more risk friendly, foolish or price sensitive? Short answer all 3 https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2015/is-risk-the-best-policy/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:10:24 GMT 2846 Robin Copland I was interested by a report I read on the NHS website on 21 August in which Public Health England published an “evidence review” about e-cigarettes, stating that they were 95% safer than cigarettes and that, further, they were an effective quitting aid for smokers. As a result of the review, e-cigarettes are to be licensed and regulated as an aid to quit smoking from 2016... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2015/lesser-of-two-evils/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:10:24 GMT 2843 Alan Smith A few years ago I was talking to a guy at a dinner party and he, in the effort to engage in small talk, asked me what I did for a living. When I told him that I trained and consulted in the area of negotiation skills he was intrigued but also fairly dismissive. His view was that he never negotiated. He always got his own way by simply making an ultimatum. His view was that agreeing to negotiate was a sign of weakness and that when dealing with his suppliers he simply told them what they had to do and they did it, or he went elsewhere... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2015/green-lights/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:10:23 GMT 2841 Stephen White Last Wednesday evening was a bad time for two different groups of Londoners. At five o’clock the doors of several walk-in centres run by a high profile children’s charity called Kid’s Company closed for the last time, and thousands of children who depended on the charity for both physical and educational support were stranded. There had been suspicions about the financial affairs of this charity for some time – allegations that it was not well managed and that it was not in control of its finances. Central government was a major contributor and when the media picked up stories of financial irregularities they and other generous donors began to think twice about their funding. The final nail in the coffin came when allegations of sexual abuse of children on Kids Company premises were made; the privately donated money dried up completely, and because the charity had virtually no reserves it had to close. It is unlikely to re-open, at least in its present form. Just one hour later the iconic concertina gates at the entrance of many London tube stations were pulled closed because of a 24 hour strike called by the unions which serve the employees who work on the London Underground... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2015/mind-the-doors-please/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:10:23 GMT 2839 Mike Freedman I was recently invited to teach at a company that purchases the debts of financial institutions and then pursues the people that owe the money. This company buys the debts through a tender process and they then present the debtors with the facts about the law and the unpleasant consequences of non-payment. They called Scotwork because they wanted to improve their negotiations with debtors. They said that they were talking to a number of companies who had issued quotations to them for negotiation training. I told them as politely as possible that they were wasting their money... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2015/dont-confuse-negotiating-with-persuasion/ Thu, 20 Jul 2023 15:48:03 GMT 2838 Sam Macbeth Although news of a pay differential between men and women doing the same or similar jobs is nothing new, recent studies suggest that even when women are on the employer’s side of a negotiation, men can feel more threatened by a female boss, and tend to negotiate using more extreme positions. In one survey, male and female college students at a U.S. university were asked to negotiate their salary at a new job in a computer exercise with a male or female hiring manager. Once they had, the participants were asked to guess words that appeared on a computer for a fraction of a second. Those who selected words such as "fear" or "risk" were judged to feel more threatened... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2015/engendering-negotiations/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:10:22 GMT 2837 David Bannister I was reading my newspaper recently and came across an article written by a woman journalist who was celebrating the demise of the, as she called it. ‘shiny suited car salesman’ whose sexist attitudes have apparently in the past been responsible for women being urged to do things like ‘discuss their purchases with the man of the house’ before making a decision. This article set out some, to me, quite eye-opening statistics for the UK market in new and ‘pre-owned’ (it’s what they call second hand here) cars. The internet has liberated people to change their purchasing habits when they buy a car. In the days before the internet dominated our buying approach, the average Briton buying a car made five visits to a dealership before making a purchase. Now, most of us do our research on line. You can choose your new car, sort out the finance for it and arrange the part exchange of your old car on line and even arrange delivery without setting eyes on a single shiny suit. Footfall in car dealerships in the UK has apparently fallen in the last few years from 30 million to an anticipated 15 million this year and a projected seven million in 2018. What a revolution! It is said that the second largest purchase we all make after a house is a car and we are moving to doing that without any human interaction – amazing! Or is it?... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2015/internet-shopping/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:10:22 GMT 2835 Stephen White Two negotiated deals of historic significance. One between Greece and the EU/Eurozone, the other between Iran and the P5+1. Both are hailed as a victory for diplomacy. Both are rubbish. Both are being derided and disowned in all quarters. Both are disintegrating as the ink dries. What do we learn?... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2015/rubbish-diplomacy/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:10:21 GMT 2833 Robin Copland A mate of mine recently visited New York on business and found himself with a spare half day or so, needing to be filled. It being February, the joys of Central Park were lost on him so, after a moment’s thought, he took himself off to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, there to see their collection of JMW Turner’s paintings in gallery 808. It’s on the second floor; a bit of a hike from the front door if we are going to be honest, but there we are. He’d seen the film (Mr Turner; worth a look if you haven’t seen it) and he was determined to see three of the great man’s paintings that hitherto had escaped his first-hand study... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2015/let-me-paint-you-a-picture/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:10:20 GMT 2831 Alan Smith It used to be that people had so much time on their hands that they were forever looking for things to do to fill it. When I talk about wrestling with an octopus I am talking literally, not making an oblique negotiating reference about dealing with slippery salesmen or procurement slight of (many) hands. Throughout time people have been looking for ways to occupy themselves. In the 18th century, for example, fox-tossing was a popular event in Poland, in fact at one prestigious event 687 foxes and an assortment of badgers, hares and wildcats were tossed into the air using slings. Sounds fun, not!... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2015/wrestling-with-an-octopus/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:10:19 GMT 2829 Robin Copland In or Out – that’s the Negotiation. Now that the Conservative party has been re-elected, the UK will be subject to a referendum, this time about Europe and its continued membership of the European Union. As an aside, those of us who live in Scotland are now becoming a bit jaded with the whole “referendum thing”; they’re a bit like the old Glasgow Corporation 59 bus that I used to know and love – none for forty-odd years, then two in quick succession, but that’s nobody’s fault but ours, so we should not complain. All part of the democratic process, blah-di-blah... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2015/in-or-out/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:10:19 GMT 2827 Stephen White How many deadlines have been and gone in the continuing saga of the economic chaos in Greece? I would suggest there have been so many that we no longer believe that any of them really mattered – or ever will matter in the future. The crescendo of press speculation in recent days indicates yet again that the media believes we might be getting close to a crisis point. That is because Greece has a large repayment of debt – a tidy €1.6 billion - to make to the International Monetary Fund by June 30th, and there isn’t that much in the Greek coffers, so there is a real possibility that Greece will default that day, triggering the much publicised exit of Greece from the Eurozone, commonly known as the Grexit. Add to this the fact that in recent days, talks between the various parties have all but broken down... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2015/its-always-my-fault/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:10:18 GMT 2825 Stephen White A woman tries to board an overcrowded bus at the bus depot. The passengers bar her way. She protests. ‘I must be allowed to get on this bus’ she says. ‘Why’, the other passengers reply. ‘What makes you so important that you should take priority over others who are already on the bus?’ ‘Because I’m the driver’ she says. Two weeks ago we saw Sepp Blatter exercising his rights as the ‘driver’ to stay on the bus, even though more and more of his fellow passengers were uncomfortable with his insistence to do so. Eventually the pressure got to him, and now the whole FIFA edifice is collapsing before our eyes.... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2015/why-sepp-blatter-has-my-sympathy/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:10:17 GMT 2823 Alan Smith A relatively small and parochial point this week, but it illustrates that opportunities to negotiate abound. A deal may just improve your position in any walk of life. I have been working in the US this week and flew into JFK on Monday with the intention of staying in Manhattan on Monday prior to starting work on Tuesday. I booked into a small hotel just off Broadway. Now, New York is 5 hours behind UK time so at around 9 pm (2 am on my body clock) I decided to turn in... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2015/theres-never-anything-on-anyway/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:10:17 GMT 2821 Robin Copland A friend of mine is a specialist clothes manufacturer – I do not want to say more than that for fear of identifying him - who, when he opened his factory thirty years ago, was fairly desperate to get one or two big clients to underwrite his business in the first few unsteady years. Fortunately for him, he found a few, one of whom was and is a well-known high street retailer in the UK. Now, this company has exacting standards. I used to be in the hotel business and I well remember that we hosted their annual staff dinner one year... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2015/competitive-stances-breed-competitive-stances/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:10:16 GMT 2819 Stephen White A recent article in the New York Times has some food for thought for wise negotiators. The authors pose this question – How do you motivate people to do the right thing when the ‘market’ doesn’t work? Their context is the chronic shortage of water in California. This has now become so bad that new mandatory water-reduction regulations came into effect on April 1st. Most of these appear to concern communal water usage such as sprinklers on golf courses and cemeteries, and the replacement of community lawns with grasses which are more resistant to drought conditions. Private citizens are encouraged to improve water retention methods through a rebate scheme on new garden watering equipment, and new homes are subject to stricter regulations... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2015/looking-good/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:10:16 GMT 2817 Stephen White The recent Argentinian film ‘Wild Tales’ is a compilation of six unrelated fictions about people in desperate situations. I would recommend it to anyone who likes entertaining storytelling, but one of the segments has particular interest for negotiators. The plot revolves around the wealthy father of a wayward teenager who takes the family BMW out for the night, gets drunk, and collides with a pregnant pedestrian in a hit-and-run incident. Mother and unborn child don’t survive. The teenager confesses to his parents, and the father together with the family lawyer hatch a plan. The gardener, a retainer of many years standing, is invited to take the rap by claiming to be the driver, and serve the prison sentence (expected to be an unrealistic 18 months) in return for $500,000, a sum beyond his dreams... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2015/the-power-of-no/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:10:15 GMT 2815 Stephen White On the day this blog is published the population of the UK vote in elections for their next government. Opinion polls put the two main parties neck and neck, with neither commanding a strong enough following to win an outright majority. So the result is likely to be a minority government which will have to form a coalition or make deals with the handful of minor parties in order to be able to govern. Even if there is an outright majority for one party the margin will be so small that alliances will need to be forged for effective government to survive. Do we have a cadre of politicians who can rise to the challenge of creating these deals through effective and inspired negotiating?... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2015/negotiating-advice-for-politicians/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:10:15 GMT 2813 Alan Smith There appears to be a new technique being banded about by politicians in the UK, no doubt encouraged by their spin doctors in the long run up to this May’s General election. This technique or tactic is called throwing a dead cat on the table. Now no need to get squeamish, the cat is not literally dead, nor has it really been thrown anywhere least especially on the table. The technique refers to a metaphorical cat not a real one... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2015/dead-cat-tactic/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:10:13 GMT 2811 Alan Smith We are in political season, so I make no apology for another observation on the political landscape, from which the negotiator can learn so much. All three stories involve the SNP. Story 1. As the tension and torture of last year’s Scottish independence referendum fade away, the resurgent SNP wants to go again – perhaps as early as next year... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2015/three-stories-in-one/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:10:13 GMT 2810 Alan Smith Questions, questions everywhere, and not an answer in sight. Asking good questions is productive, positive, creative, and can help get us what we want. Most people believe this to be true and yet often people do not ask enough questions. Perhaps one of the reasons for this is that effective questioning requires to be combined with effective listening. Last week I was listening to Eric Pickles, the conservative MP being interviewed on Radio 4’s today programme... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2015/questions/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:10:13 GMT 2809 Stephen White Somewhat quietly last Thursday, several days after the expiry of an arbitrary deadline which had been set for the finalisation of a agreement on the future of Iran’s nuclear capability, a deal was announced. There was rejoicing on the streets of Teheran, ominous rumblings of discontent in Jerusalem and Riyadh, a touch of triumphalism in Washington, and near silence in London, Paris and Berlin. After all the conditioning we had received from the spokespeople and pundits it was probably impossible for there to have been any other outcome. So much ego had been invested on both sides of the table that to announce a failure or a deadlock would have shown up all the politicians involved as incompetent... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2015/the-deal-that-is-no-deal/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:10:13 GMT 2808 Alan Smith A couple of weeks ago we asked readers to submit words (made up ones) and their definitions as part of a tongue in cheek exploration of a new vocabulary for the seasoned negotiator to describe behaviours, activities, tricks and techniques they have encountered whilst participating in the noble art of negotiation. Regular readers may recall that we suggested that linguists and philosophers recognize that language defines reality. The way we talk about a subject creates the landscape in which that subject lives. Just as we are often said to be what we eat, we are in many respects are what we say... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2015/the-meaning-of-liff-part-2/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:10:12 GMT 2807 Alan Smith This morning (Tuesday 24th March) the news is awash with the revelation that the British Prime Minister says that he will not serve a third term as the leader of the Conservative party, and therefore leader of the country, should they be re-elected, again and again. Now bearing in mind he has not won the next election it seems remarkably confident, or arrogant to think he could possibly win the one after... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2015/honesty/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:10:12 GMT 2806 Alan Smith What price is cost control? There is a natural tendency for us all to be looking to drive down the cost of what we buy. We all do it. Even those of us who sell stuff, services or products for a living will need to buy, and the same is true for those who buy; they often have to sell, even if it just themselves to the man. But the problem of focusing exclusively on cost as an issue was brought home to me again when I glanced at the ingredients on my recently consumed, Bakewell Tart... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2015/do-you-like-radish/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:10:12 GMT 2805 Stephen White Driving to a meeting recently I was brought low by a radio programme about dementia. The story, told by her family and her medical team, was of the remainder of the life of a bubbly and vivacious woman who was diagnosed with dementia at the age of 80. As her condition worsened she became increasingly uncommunicative and aggressive, and finally died some 13 years later. One element of the unfolding story was unusual. In middle age she had made a living will... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2015/negotiating-the-will-to-live/ Thu, 20 Jul 2023 15:51:24 GMT 2804 Alan Smith It has been said that Inuit have more than 17 different words for snow. Why should this be? Anthropologists hold the view that the language we speak both affects and reflects our view of the world. The idea that Inuit have so many words for snow has given rise to the idea that they view snow very differently from people of other cultures... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2015/the-meaning-of-liff/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:10:11 GMT 2803 Yannis Dimarakis Most of you have followed (to some extent at least) the negotiations between the recently elected Greek government and its European partners. Depending on his or her political persuasion, an observer may feel in a number of ways regarding the outcome. So was the agreement a huge success, or was it a full capitulation of the Greek government?... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2015/its-all-about-packaging/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:10:11 GMT 2802 Yannis Dimarakis As these lines are written, the negotiations between the Greek government and its Eurogroup partners are still under way. As the end result is not yet known (and probably will not be for some days) some mistakes of the Greek handling of the situation are already discernible. Here are three obvious mistakes I have selected to discuss in this article... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2015/errors-in-greek-negotiating-strategy/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:10:11 GMT 2801 Stephen White A recent TV documentary (The Secret Life of 4 Year Olds) gave a fascinating insight into the way grown-ups work. The film makers fitted out a kindergarten classroom with hidden cameras, and then put a group of 4 year olds into the classroom to interact with each other, under the supervision of two expert teachers, and secretly watched by a group of child psychologists. Having identified some of the personality traits of the children, they were split into two groups and invited to build a pretend house out of cardboard boxes and then decorate it. The groups were pre-selected; one had the more dominant children in it, and one had the less dominant. They were told that the team which built the better house would be declared winners.. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2015/learning-from-children/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:10:11 GMT 2800 Alan Smith Get mad back? Not so sure. Couple of things have passed my desk this week that have prompted this blog. The first is something that happened to me on one of our Advancing Negotiation Skills courses. One of the participants was asking about how to deal with difficult people. I suspect we have all come across them in our lives be it work or personal. As usual to give myself time to ponder and consider a response, a kind of adjournment, I asked the rest of the group if they had any ideas... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2015/get-mad-back/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:10:10 GMT 2799 Robin Copland Well, the Greeks have finally gone and done it. At the weekend, they kicked out the conservative New Democracy party – the dominant force in the coalition led by the outgoing prime minister Antonis Samaras and instead voted in Alexis Tsipras’s radical left Syriza party. The rest of Europe has looked on askance; Greece has muscled her way onto the front pages of just about every serious newspaper in Europe; bankers and leaders Europe-wide have been keeping the Andrex puppy busy ever since the news came out... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2015/precedent/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:10:10 GMT 2798 Robin Copland Jim Murphy, the new leader of the Labour party in Scotland, was interviewed on the radio recently and the issue of unilateral nuclear disarmament was raised. By way of background, there has always been a body of opinion in the UK in favour of unilateral nuclear disarmament, indeed, during the recent referendum debate in Scotland, the Scottish National Party, in favour of Scottish independence, insisted that, in the event that Scotland voted “Yes” for independence, she would become a “nuclear-free zone” as soon as possible... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2015/unilateral-disarmament/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:10:10 GMT 2797 Alan Smith There is one group for whom cheaper oil is bad news — oil producers, who've been having an amazing run between a combination of higher prices and surging production. For the rest of us it may be pretty good news. For the negotiator there is certainly the potential of a discussion dependent on the relationship between the price of oil and that of your end products, and how you approach it will depend on which side of the fence you sit... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2015/pour-oil-on-it/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:10:10 GMT 2796 Alan Smith I love Christmas, but I hate paying for it. Sadly as a father of 5, Christmas, whilst being a wonderful time is also a very expensive one. I am sure like everyone else I also get excited in the run up to the event and am seduced by those people in marketing (God bless them) to spend more than I want to on things no-one needs, to impress them and convince them that under this crusty exterior I am a nice bloke after all... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2015/billion-dollars/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:10:09 GMT 2795 The Scotwork Team On Christmas Day 1914 the guns fell silent on no mans land. English, Irish, Welsh and Scottish Soldiers emerged from their trenches to meet the German enemy to shake hands and exchange gifts. Despite that only hours previously they had been involved in a vicious and unrelenting exchange of bullets, they engaged in an improvised and good humored football match on the battlefields, Germany V Great Britain. Germany it is rumored won 3 – 2. Did it happen? And why?... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2014/pipes-of-peace/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:09:25 GMT 2794 Alan Smith Who does the housework in your house? Seems this is a much bigger issue than you might think. Or maybe it is already a huge issue for you. I suspect it depends on who does it and whether you care. It certainly seems to cause significant conflict if the radio is to be believed. I have a confession to make. As someone who works a lot from home I find myself in an office in my garden with very little company apart from the radio. A guilty highlight (sometimes) is Women’s Hour on BBC Radio 4... Remarkably there has been a controversial theme over the last few weeks focused exclusively on housework, and who does it... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2014/chore-wars/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:09:25 GMT 2793 Stephen White An American President (depending on your politics it could be any American President since Eisenhower) visits a class of 9 year-olds. The class is discussing the meaning of the word tragedy. The President asks ‘Can anyone give me an example of the word ‘tragedy’. Peter says ‘My friend ran into the road and was killed by a passing car – that is a tragedy’. ‘No’, says the President, ‘that is an accident’. Jane says ‘There is a chemical leak at a factory and 2500 people are killed – that is a tragedy’. ‘No’, says the President, ‘I would call that a devastating loss’. William says ‘The Presidential plane is blown out of the sky by a ground-to-air missile fired by a rogue American soldier, and you are on board – that would be a tragedy’... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2014/bhopal/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:09:24 GMT 2792 Alan Smith It is a very simple equation to look at how margin is impacted by the price a company charges for its products. Take a very easy example of a company whose P&L sheet looks like this; Sales - 100 Materials - 60 Labour - 20 Other - 10 Profit - 10 If this company has to respond to market forces and drop its sales prices by 5% and other costs remain the same the impact on profit is a dramatic 50%.... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2014/the-sin-of-greed/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:09:24 GMT 2791 Stephen White At first glance there may not seem much in common between Formula One racing and chartered accountancy. So the news today that KPMG have teamed up with a division of the McLaren racing team is both unexpected and exciting. McLaren will give KPMG access to the methodology they use to process the amounts of ‘big-data’ such as the information they collect as the racing car speeds round the track so that it can be used to help them make predicative decisions such as when to bring a car in for a pit stop. KPMG intend to use this information in a number of ways, most commonly to help them identify (predict) future problems and issues when they are doing audit work, rather than allowing the audit simply to be a backward looking view of a corporate body. Part of the deal is that KPMG will become one of the sponsors of the McLaren team – it is good to see that both parties used their negotiating skills to make a good trade... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2014/accountants-are-all-torque/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:09:24 GMT 2790 Robin Copland There has been much weeping and gnashing of teeth lately amongst the chattering classes and politicians in the UK and, perhaps predictably as we move ever closer to what promises to be the strangest election in recent history, it concerns money and the European Union. Last month (October 2014), it was suddenly and rather breathlessly announced in banner headlines that Britain was going to be hit for a £1.7bn pound deficit bill from the EU. The UK Prime Minister, David Cameron, immediately went to Defcon 12 and very publicly rebuked the EU for the procedure it had adopted in making the announcement, for the timing of the announcement and, not to put too fine a point on it, for the amount involved.... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2014/a-winning-package/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:09:24 GMT 2789 Mike Freedman Frequently people want to talk about their negotiating strategy. My immediate (if private) reaction to this is “oh dear!!” Negotiation is a means of dealing with conflict; it can be stressful. So, in preparation we tend to surround ourselves with all sorts of tools and defences that will make us feel more powerful or at least more comfortable. For example people like to play out their negotiation strategy before it happens. Their strategy involves a long storyboard, a sequence of exactly what they and the other side will say and do... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2014/yes-but/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:09:23 GMT 2788 Stephen White There is a sweet story about a car mechanic who is fixing the engine of the car belonging to an eminent heart surgeon. The surgeon arrives in the repair shop whilst the job is still not quite completed. The mechanic calls the doctor over to have a look under the bonnet. “You and I do the same job, Doc. I opened the engine’s heart, took the valves out, I am repairing and replacing anything damaged and then I will put everything back together and when it is finished, it will work like new. Just like you do. So how come I earn £40,000 a year and you earn £400,000 a year?”... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2014/infallibility/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:09:23 GMT 2787 Alan Smith There are three things that stick out for me from the new series of The Apprentice. The first is that at 10 years old it remains remarkably good telly. The introduction of new tweaks and twists on a familiar format makes it essential viewing if you want to have something to say at the water cooler. Not many programs still pass that test... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2014/business/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:09:23 GMT 2786 Stephen White This week the 2014 Nobel Prize for Economics was awarded to Professor Jean Tirole for his writings on the regulation of large corporations. Professor Tirole made his reputation largely on his work about Game Theory; his book (with Drew Fudenberg) called Game Theory is not an easy read. Densely packed with mathematical equations the book tries to explain the behaviour of individuals in a market who make decisions based on their expectations of how their customers, suppliers and competitors are likely to react in the future. Even the first example in the book, which describes how a pie manufacturer would use Game Theory to choose how to set his prices in the market for one single day, would make most people’s head spin... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2014/complicated-games/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:09:23 GMT 2785 Gaetan Pellerin We’ve all been trained to hide our emotions in a business environment—especially during negotiation. Keep your emotions out of negotiations or the other side may crush you, right? Not exactly, because you can’t negotiate effectively as a detached robot. So how do you find the happy medium? Recognize that emotions—positive and negative—are totally normal during a negotiation. But we’re often so busy driving the conversation, persuading the other party and doing everything we can to close the deal, that in the moment, we lose touch with our emotions. Or we choose not to deal with them... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2014/get-real-about-emotions/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:09:22 GMT 2784 Alan Smith What is the worst thing you can do when negotiating? Lots of things I guess but probably the most obvious one of all is a lack of preparation. Last year was the 30th anniversary of the bestselling book by Chris Ryan, Bravo, Two, Zero. I’ve got to be honest when it first came out I did not read it. I thought it would only be of interest to military types and frankly was a bit embarrassed to read it on the train or tube, which was my main reading time back then... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2014/the-biggest-sin-of-all/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:09:22 GMT 2782 Stephen White Imagine this scenario. You are driving through city streets as a passenger with a colleague at the wheel. He is driving faster than the speed limit, trying to get a meeting on time, and is involved in a minor accident; no one is hurt but the police are called. Passers-by who witnessed the event tell the police they think your colleague was speeding. He asks you to speak as a witness on his behalf; to testify that he wasn’t speeding. What would you do? The Universalist sees this problem in terms of the uniformity of the application of laws and regulations. The issues of loyalty and the attempt to be punctual for a meeting are irrelevant; if the law has been broken then the consequences should be suffered by all, notwithstanding special circumstances or relationships. The Particularist sees the same problem in terms of extenuating circumstances and relationships. No one got hurt, you know your colleague is usually a safe driver, being truthful may well affect the relationship with him and possibly impose a driving penalty on him as well.... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2014/univesalists-of-the-world-beware/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:09:22 GMT 2781 Stephen White Publishing this on the day the Scottish population votes on Independence, we are no different from any of the other pundits - unable to forecast the result. But we can forecast that whatever the result the Scottish people will lose their ability to function truly as a democracy. This is because whichever side has the majority the result will be extremely close – 51/49, or 52/48 or something similar. In practical terms therefore about half of the population will getting exactly what they don’t want... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2014/why-i-like-negotiating/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:09:22 GMT 2780 Alan Smith On 18 September voters in Scotland will be asked the Yes/No question: "Should Scotland be an independent country?" The final push for votes comes as a YouGov poll run by the Sunday Times suggested that, of those who have made up their mind, 51% planned to back independence, while 49% intended to vote no. Looks like the vote is going to go to the wire... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2014/time-is-running-out/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:09:21 GMT 2779 Alan Smith I am a big fan of the Kindle. It is convenient, easy to read at night, can carry lots of product, etc., etc. But whilst I still also love books, the Kindle’s massive advantage is the price you pay and the ease by which you can get hold of pretty much any book in print at any time, provided you have internet access. Brilliant... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2014/how-do-you-read-it/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:09:21 GMT 2778 Stephen White Just as they say that everyone remembers what they were doing when they heard that JFK had been assassinated, the same applies to 9/11. In my case I was in a Dixons electrical shop; I watched the second plane fly into the building on a wall of about 50 TVs which were on display for sale, all showing the identical picture. I commented on the devastating nature of the spectacle to the sales assistant who was completing my purchase. ‘It’s just TV’ he said, not recognising that the event was real. The result of that attack, the War on Terror and the subsequent events in Afghanistan and Iraq, continue to affect our daily lives... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2014/where-were-you/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:09:21 GMT 2777 Tom Feinson As ever it feels like little or no time has elapsed between the end of one season and the beginning of another. The World Cup serves to heighten those feelings, but here we are on the eve of new season, that blissful period where our hopes, dreams and aspirations are as yet undashed. The glorious “Transfer Window” (unless of course you are Southampton) enables teams to offload a dodgy left back or temperamental winger (should that be whinger) and land a top quality striker ‘Who is going to give us 30 goals a season’... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2014/show-me-the-money/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:09:21 GMT 2776 John McMillan On September 18th, Scotland, part of the United Kingdom for 300 years, is holding a referendum on whether to split away from the rest of the UK and become an independent country. Assuming that there is a ‘Yes’ vote, the Scottish Government has a massive negotiating challenge ahead if it is to meet its self-imposed deadline of 24th March 2016; barely 18 months after the votes will be counted... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2014/countdown-conundrum/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:09:20 GMT 2775 Robin Copland Recently, I found myself in Cork in Ireland. Beautiful place and well worth a visit if you have never been. Its weather (we don’t have a climate in these parts; we just have the weather. Indeed, we spend a lot of time talking about the weather and if we didn’t have it to talk about, then this would a quiet place, let me assure you!) is balmy; never too hot and never too cold. For a man from northern climes it is well-nigh perfect; this does not mean to say though that, from time to time, it does not get hot, because believe me, it does and I happened upon one of the weeks in the year when it was hot, hot, hot... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2014/what-i-need-is-a-fan/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:09:20 GMT 2774 Stephen White As I write, in Israel and Gaza the conflict continues, and two thousand miles away the aggression between those Ukrainians who want their country to face East, and those who want it to face West also continues. The collateral damage in both cases is tragic; men, women and children who have nothing to do with any political or ideological movement are killed and injured by rockets and tank shells which are aimed indiscriminately at population centres, or which shoot a commercial plane out of the sky... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2014/the-impotence-of-negotiators/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:09:20 GMT 2773 Mark Simpson The media has discovered that Council controlled Auckland Transport is using special shuttles to move staff around Auckland – apparently because it’s faster than the public transport they provide for the rest of us. When challenged Auckland Transport shot themselves in the foot and provided us with a beautiful example of argument dilution. Initially, Auckland Transport highlighted the benefits of the shuttles as – being able to cut down the size of its car fleet and improve “business efficiency”. A good sound reason for trialling the shuttle businesses. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2014/argument-dilution-auckland-transport-way/ Mon, 07 Aug 2023 13:16:13 GMT 2772 Alan Smith As the summer political season approaches, we can expect to be bombarded from both sides of the pond with statements, postures and photo opportunities, all designed to gain some kind of political advantage. In the US the mid-term elections are being held in November; in May next year the General Election beckons and one of the key players in the British election is looking stateside for as much help as he can get. Ed Miliband has already employed David Axelrod. Axelrod, who helped President Obama to two victories, will join Labour’s general election campaign team as a senior strategic adviser... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2014/whats-it-worth/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:09:19 GMT 2771 Alan Smith Size matters. But so do lots of other things. It’s all in the detail, and we all know that. So, why are so many problems only discovered after the ink has long dried? The temptation as we approach the end game of a long and difficult negotiation is to heave a great sigh of relief and run to the pub to celebrate a job well done over a glass of our favourite tipple... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2014/size-matters/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:09:19 GMT 2770 Robin Copland I honestly do not know how many cities have trams. I know that in the UK, there are a fair few and some of the networks are extensive. Manchester and Sheffield, to name but two, have lines going all over the place and I am aware that Sheffield’s network is so well-used that a major upgrade programme has just been announced. Edinburgh now proudly joins these and, of course, many other European cities in having its very own tram – I was going to use the word “network” there again, but that’s not strictly true; “line” might be a better word. I can tell you without a moment of research and with no possibility of disagreement from anyone, anywhere that Edinburgh’s tram line excels in one area above all others – and that is its cost per kilometre... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2014/going-off-the-rails/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:09:19 GMT 2769 Robin Copland When companies get good at providing a service, it becomes convenient to put more and more business their way. They provide an efficient route to market; they give suppliers the chance to make one big delivery instead of four or five smaller ones; their marketing campaigns are slick and entice more customers through their – sometimes electronic – doors. From the consumers’ perspective, they provide a glitzy, one-stop-shop service that saves time, trouble and hassle. Eventually, they inhabit large green- or brown-field sites on the edges of great conurbations, with lots of parking and the odd ancillary service provided to make the whole retail experience that bit more bearable... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2014/whose-fault-is-it-anyway/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:09:19 GMT 2768 Stephen White Last week it looked like politics was overwhelming the FIFA World Cup. Accusations of financial scandal involving the selection of Qatar as the venue for the 2022 competition, and adverse comment about the potential re-election of 78 year-old Sepp Blatter as President of FIFA dwarfed the press content about the actual football. Until, that is, the football actually started, after which all the dissent and scandal seemed to fade away. A similar situation occurred six months ago before the Winter Olympics at Sochi. Terrorists threatened to blow up the Games and LGBT activists tried to focus attention on human rights abuse in Russia. But after the opening ceremony, once the skiing and tobogganing started, it was sport, sport, sport all the way... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2014/sideshow/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:09:19 GMT 2767 Alan Smith Researchers into fatalities caused by storms have made an interesting and rather odd finding. For as long as people have been tracking and reporting hurricanes, also known as tropical cyclones, they’ve been struggling to find ways to identify them. Until well into the 20th century, newspapers and forecasters in the United States devised names for storms that referenced their time period, geographic location or intensity; hence, the Great Hurricane of 1722, the Galveston Storm of 1900, the Labour Day Hurricane of 1935 and the Big Blow of 1913... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2014/its-all-in-the-name/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:09:18 GMT 2766 Alan Smith About 6 years ago my daughter then aged 8 decided that she would like to join her older brother at Karate lessons. I was delighted. So much so that I decided to join her at the adult class. Unlike my son, both she and I have kept it up, and last Friday she took her Black Belt first Dan grade which she achieved. I was utterly thrilled and very proud of the commitment, hard work and determination that it took... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2014/the-black-belt-and-the-negotiator/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:09:18 GMT 2764 Stephen White Until yesterday I thought that the bid by US pharma giant Pfizer for UK based pharma giant AstraZeneca was a flash-in-the-pan piece of opportunism. We first heard of the plan at the beginning of May, when an offer of £50 per share was tabled. The merger would create the largest pharmaceutical company in the world. It was based on two premises, firstly that AstraZeneca were weak because their product portfolio contained a number of high-profit drugs which were coming to the end of their patent protection, and with nothing much in the R&D cupboard to replace them, and secondly because it gave Pfizer an advantage by enabling them to move their head office to the UK and save loads of tax in an avoidance wheeze... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2014/the-best-laid-plans/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:09:18 GMT 2765 Alan Smith Politicians who promise that the streets will be paved with gold and deliver nothing but cobbled cul-de-sacs, managers who claim that the future will be filled with bonuses and jam while delivering dry crust and the negotiator who offers a future filled with high volume orders and pulls them whilst pocketing the promotional bonus. Nothing offends the sensibility quite so much as the empty promise delivered with mind-boggling confidence... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2014/talent-is-overrated/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:09:18 GMT 2763 Stephen White On Wednesday Roger Boyes, the Diplomatic Editor of the London Times, wrote an op-ed piece critical of the West’s approach to the Iranian nuclear situation. In summary his view is that during the current negotiations Iranian President Rouhani may be making all the right noises about the lack of intent to build a nuclear bomb, but because he is a transient figure on the Iranian political scene, Boyes suggests that unless there is an agreement to international monitoring of the Revolutionary Guard, which is the stronger and more permanent force in Iranian politics and which controls the Iranian nuclear programme, then promises made so far will be worthless. As a result Iran will achieve a nuclear bomb and the world will be powerless to do anything about it in retrospect... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2014/promises/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:09:17 GMT 2762 Alan Smith In spite of its largely unknown cast, a promiscuous leading female character, a tragic death and a miniscule budget, Four Weddings and a Funeral is still one of the most successful British films ever made. It is now 20 years since it opened in Britain - making household names of its stars, and taking an estimated $250 million worldwide. Not bad for a budget of less than £3 million... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2014/its-your-funeral/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:09:17 GMT 2761 Stephen White During the Pistorius trial I happened to spend some time with a friend who is a judge. I asked him if over his 30 years of experience he had developed a sense of who was telling the truth, particularly important when the outcome of a court case between a plaintiff and a defendant at war depended on which version of events the judge believed because there were no witnesses. Yes, he said, you do get a feel for it; it’s not infallible but you usually know who is telling the truth... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2014/i-believed-every-word/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:09:17 GMT 2760 Robin Copland As 2014 heads for September, Scotland thinks of itself as at the centre of a political maelstrom. In truth, some Europeans are following the independence debate with interest, but the rest of the world could not, it seems, care a jot. Never mind; for those of us who live in Scotland – an important distinction as only those resident in Scotland in September will have a vote – it is providing politicians with a chance to strut their stuff and to ally themselves with people and parties who are normally their sworn enemies. Thus, we have the former prime minister, Gordon Brown speaking out on behalf of the “Better Together” campaign – a campaign for which his arch-enemy the current prime minister, David Cameron, has also spoken... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2014/better-together/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:09:17 GMT 2759 Alan Smith I want you to imagine that you have been preparing for a negotiation and you have got to the point were you have to declare your financial proposal to paper. The bit that is going to be critical, maybe even the most important (maybe), is the price. We could drift tangentially off point here and talk about things that may be much more important than price, like availability, quality, terms, etc., etc., we won’t. But you should... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2014/precisely/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:09:16 GMT 2758 Alan Smith Sun Tzu, the legendary Chinese Military tactician said “To know your Enemy, you must become your Enemy.” I was reminded of this famous quote when I read a review of Robert Lindsay’s new play, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, in which Lindsay talked about his political past. For people of my generation, Lindsay came to prominence in his breakthrough role as a hapless Marxist in the TV sitcom Citizen Smith... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2014/know-your-enemy/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:09:16 GMT 2757 Romana Henry As a French speaker, I was recently despatched to the French island of La Reunion, located in the middle of the Indian Ocean close to Mauritius and Madagascar to run a course. What a place! A tropical paradise with wonderful people, beaches, sea, food, scenery, the list goes on and on. My colleague Julien, originally from Paris but living there for the last 10 years – life’s a bitch – told me a lovely story... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2014/a-lovely-bunch-of-coconuts/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:09:16 GMT 2756 Stephen White News pictures of distraught relatives of the passengers on flight MH370, missing now for more than 2 weeks, bring home an uncomfortable truth. Even in the light of technological detective work which broke new ground and determined beyond reasonable doubt that the plane had ditched in a remote part of the South Indian Ocean, many of the bereaved are unconvinced, and say they will remain sceptical until physical evidence of the plane in the sea is produced... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2014/scepticism/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:09:16 GMT 2755 Alan Smith Alice Walker, author of “The Colour Purple" and civil rights activist said “The most common way that people give up their power, is by thinking they don’t have any”. The reality of the power of what we think was driven home to me recently by the TED talk given by Psychologist Kelly McGonigal, who presented a kind of positive case for stress... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2014/thought-so/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:09:15 GMT 2754 David Bannister I have just returned from holiday and one of the joys of a holiday is having lots of time to read. This holiday, one of the books I read was ‘A Street Cat named Bob’. It’s an uplifting and sometimes challenging book about a recovering drug addict – James Bowen, the author, and his cat, Bob whom he finds in the lobby of his building and whom he helps to recover from neglect and befriends. Having Bob gives James a reason for overcoming his heroin habit and he manages to get a job selling the ‘Big Issue’ in London – he had previously been a busker... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2014/lessons-in-negotiating/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:09:15 GMT 2753 Stephen White As the current situation in Ukraine is changing so swiftly that no one has any serious ability to predict the outcome, conflict-resolution pundits should be reading the unfolding events in negotiating terms in order to make sense of what is going on, for themselves and for those who follow them. Why in negotiating terms? Because it is inevitable that sooner or later the parties involved will sit down and talk to each other. The world will hope that this happens within days, although recent history, for example in Syria, suggests that these talks might take years, with untold human misery happening in the vacuum. Here are some easily identifiable negotiating pointers to the events of the last 2 weeks... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2014/ukrainian-tractors/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:09:15 GMT 2752 Stephen White Our propensity to believe the unbelievable is enhanced by a world which is increasingly intrinsically unbelievable. I find myself gawping at the news on a daily basis. Facebook paid $19,000,000,000 for an App which employs only 55 people and doesn’t take advertising? Did your finger get stuck on the zero button? Candy Crush Saga, a moronically addictive computer game, has been downloaded more than half a billion times? You’re pulling my leg. ATMs already exist for a virtual currency which has existed for only 4 years, is prone to vast fluctuations in value, and is often used for money laundering? Surely not... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2014/duck-quacks-dont-echo/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:09:15 GMT 2751 Alan Smith Valentine’s Day gone. Red Roses wilting depressingly in the vase perched on the window sill. Champagne cork stuck behind the book on the top shelf where it landed and will remain, probably till we move house. Promises made in the heat of the night, vaguely remembered. Including the one about agreeing to do whatever it takes to get that leaking shower unit fixed (bet you were not expecting such a pedestrian promise) before our extended families descend on us for Easter, aquaplaning as it approaches in the outside lane... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2014/i-would-do-anything-for-love/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:09:15 GMT 2750 Alan Smith Switzerland's economy is booming at the moment, and unemployment is low, but many Swiss worry about what they see as a looming problem, namely, immigration. Last year 80,000 new immigrants arrived in Switzerland with a relatively small overall population of around 5 million, and foreigners now make up 23% of the inhabitants. It is the continent's second highest foreign population after Luxembourg, for whom 42% are immigrants... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2014/cuckoo-is-the-clock-running-out-on-switzerland/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:09:14 GMT 2749 Stephen White The Winter Olympic Games open in Sochi this Friday, but any expectation that there would by now be a rising tide of enthusiasm for the splendour of the opening ceremony or the thrill of the sports on show has been dashed. Instead we only read about the likelihood of a Chechen terrorist attack, the possible effect on athletes and spectators of recently enacted anti-gay Russian legislation and the appalling prospect that some Western journalists might find their hotel bedrooms are unfinished... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2014/freezing-the-terrorists-out/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:09:14 GMT 2748 Robin Copland For a man who trained as a physician at the university of Damascus and who spent two years in post graduate training in ophthalmology at the Western Eye Hospital, part of the St Mary’s group of teaching hospitals in London; a man, furthermore, who had few, if any, political aspirations until his brother’s death in 1994, President Bashar al-Assad of Syria is taking a pretty myopic view of retaining political power! For the past two years he and the Syrian political establishment have been engaged in a ruthless battle for power with the loosely-defined but western-supported opposition rebel forces... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2014/thats-one-way-of-looking-at-it/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:09:14 GMT 2747 Alan Smith Many times in the classroom I have been asked a seemingly simple question. Is everything negotiable? For an answer, take a look at the current stand-off between the UK Liberal Democrat party and Lord Rennard. What a mess! https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2014/i-dont-give-a/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:09:14 GMT 2746 Stephen White There are interminable lists of top negotiating dos and don’ts available on the internet, in books, and on training courses. They mainly contain pieces of sensible, if obvious advice about how negotiators should conduct themselves. You may have read some of these lists, and you may even have been moved to try some of the tips. You certainly don’t need to see another one... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2014/hollywood-has-a-real-grasp-of-reality/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:09:13 GMT 2745 Alan Smith New Year’s resolutions. We all do them. Although I have to say come March time they tend to have disappeared unlike the food belly that sadly gets a little bit bigger and more stubborn with each passing decade. So what’s the point? I guess they give us a little bit of focus for what should be important to us following a couple of weeks off from the ever spinning, ever faster treadmill that we call life... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2014/new-years-evolution/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:09:13 GMT 2744 Robin Copland On the BBC news website in a move eerily reminiscent of Laura Ashley and John Lewis (see 28 March blog), it has been confirmed yesterday that department store Debenhams has told suppliers of its own brand products to cut their bills by 2.5% as a "contribution" to its investment plans”. It said it would deduct this from all outstanding payments on Tuesday night and would apply another discount of 2.5% to orders open on its system.... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2013/merry-bloody-christmas/ Fri, 24 Jan 2025 15:58:00 GMT 2743 Alan Smith Today’s friend is tomorrow’s foe in this dynamic and complex world. Barely a day goes by without mergers, acquisitions, take overs (hostile or not) or promotions, that takes the guy you were managing and makes him your boss. How do we best manage our relationships to get the most out of them in this constant flux? Seems the best way of building rapport is to focus on what psychologists call ‘uncommon commonalities’... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2013/whose-side-are-you-on/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:08:24 GMT 2742 David Bannister “Please take your seats promptly after the coffee break” said the organiser at KPMG’s International Partners’ Conference in Cape Town in 1999. “We have a special guest”. Twenty minutes later the 150 or so of us at the conference watched Nelson Mandela, then approaching his eightieth birthday, walk slowly down the catwalk past us all and to the lectern in the centre. He carefully and deliberately read a prepared speech telling us how important it was for the city to be able to welcome such a distinguished group of international business leaders. It was a predictable address and I felt a little disappointed. “And finally…” he said as he folded up the paper from which he had been reading for ten minutes. There then followed an unscripted and fascinating twenty minutes when he spoke of the ANC’s accession to power in a democratic South Africa and how easy it would have been to settle old scores and seek bloody retribution for the years of racial oppression... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2013/only-free-men-can-negotiate/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:08:24 GMT 2741 Alan Smith The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has promised to compensate those left "out of pocket" after customers were unable to pay for purchases. RBS, NatWest and Ulster Bank customers making online and card payments were affected between 18:30 and 21:30 GMT this Monday. Bearing in mind that Monday was supposed to be the biggest on-line shopping day of the year (credit cards screaming with pre-Christmas purchases), this was indeed a big cock up. There were stories of students stranded in taxis they could not pay for, drinkers and diners with unpaid bills and mothers unable to buy nappies filling the morning news... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2013/sorry-seems-to-be-the-easiest-word/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:08:24 GMT 2740 Alan Smith Don’t just do something. Stand there. The legislation allowing the UK government to build a high-speed rail line between London and Birmingham is to go before Parliament. Apparently the bill stretches to over 75,000 pages and details, almost down to the last blade of grass, exactly what ministers would like to build. The bulk of the bill, almost 50,000 pages is dedicated to the impact the first phase of HS2 will have on the environment.... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2013/dont-just-do-something/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:08:24 GMT 2739 Robin Copland Scotland’s first minister, Alex Salmond has announced 24 March 2016 as the date for the country’s exit from the United Kingdom, should the Scottish people (or rather, those people resident in Scotland at 18 September 2014) vote for independence. It is a date redolent with historical significance for the historically-minded, for on that date in 1603, the union of the Scottish and English crowns took place and later, in 1707 on the same date, the Acts of Union were signed creating the United Kingdom of Great Britain... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2013/is-time-on-your-side/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:08:24 GMT 2738 Stephen White It is peculiar how news stories often converge and clash. Newspapers worldwide today report the court-hearing in St Petersburg yesterday which culminated in bail being granted to eight pro-environment Greenpeace activists who had attempted to scale an oil rig in the Pechora Sea in September. Also today, The Moscow Times reports on its front page that anti-terrorism exercises carried out in Sochi, the venue for the upcoming Winter Olympics, targeted pro-environment activists who are staunch opponents of the Games, detaining one of their leaders at an airport in the region for four hours on the grounds that he looked like a terrorist.... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2013/activism-and-negotiation/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:08:23 GMT 2737 Stephen White After the failure, albeit perhaps temporarily, of the negotiations in Geneva last weekend between the Iranian Foreign Minister and representatives of the superpowers over the future of Iran’s nuclear ambitions, US Secretary of State John Kerry gave an interview to the BBC. My interest was drawn to this extract... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2013/bracketed-language/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:08:23 GMT 2736 Alan Smith In many aspects of life one of the most important aspects is, wait for it, timing. A good gag, the perfect time to hit a volley, the lightest of soufflés, all require a mixture of patience, confidence and skill to get the best reaction from your audience, competitor or diners... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2013/remember/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:08:23 GMT 2735 Mike Freedman Like most sales people I talk about value first and price last. This week was no exception. My prospective client was considering courses for the company’s purchasing managers. The meeting was going very well, and when the quotation was requested I announced the total price for our three-day negotiating skills course upon which my much-interested prospective client asked…"is that the cost per day?"... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2013/be-careful-how-you-ask/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:08:23 GMT 2734 Robin Copland You have probably never heard of Grangemouth. Even its mother would be hard pressed to call it a pretty town, festooned as it is with tall steel chimneys belching fire into the night sky on the Firth of Forth about 15 miles west of Edinburgh on Scotland’s east coast. It is home to an oil refinery that accounts for about 10% of Scotland’s GDP and it is owned by a company called Ineos. You have probably never heard of it either, though it is Britain’s largest private company... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2013/two-faces-of-grangemouth/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:08:22 GMT 2733 Stephen White The Oxford English Dictionary defines charm as ‘the power or quality of delighting, attracting, or fascinating others’. It is a word which has been much used recently about the newly elected Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, in particular in connection with the speech he made to the United Nations General Assembly on September 24th. It is difficult to know how much the world’s perception of his charm is actually a reflection on the lack of this same quality in his predecessor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2013/charm-offensive/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:08:22 GMT 2732 Mike Freedman Before working with a powerful FMCG company in Europe I asked of the thousands of points of sale they have how many client relationships they lose every year to competing companies. The company proudly announced that last year they lost less than 1% annually to competition. I dared to suggest that 1% is probably not enough and that they need to lose more business. This did not deter them from working with us and here’s why... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2013/are-you-losing-enough-business/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:08:22 GMT 2731 Simon Letchford This week’s government shutdown makes both sides of politics look dreadful. A poll this week had Congress less popular than head lice and root-canal surgery. But, channeling Rahm Emmanuel, (“never let a serious crisis go to waste”), here are a few negotiating lessons to take from Washington’s latest home-cooked fiasco... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2013/negotiating-lessons-from-the-federal-government-shutdown/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:08:22 GMT 2730 Stephen White Big business has been on the losing side of a number of small skirmishes recently. Two recent examples. Two days ago Tesco lost a planning application to open a supermarket in the town of Hadleigh, Suffolk after local businesses raised £80,000 to pay for top advisors to present their case. And yesterday the village of Tecoma 20 miles outside Melbourne Australia, hit the international news in their fight to stop McDonald's opening a local branch. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2013/the-battle-of-the-underdog/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:08:21 GMT 2729 Alan Smith Gordon Brown's, (the Labour parties former leader and British Prime Minister), former spin doctor has revealed how he regularly attempted to discredit the aspiring PM’s rivals by leaking stories about them to the media. In extracts of a memoir published in the Daily Mail last week, Damian McBride claims he smeared Labour ministers including Charles Clarke and John Reid during Mr Brown's bid to succeed Tony Blair... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2013/tread-softly/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:08:21 GMT 2728 Alan Smith You’ve got to feel a bit sorry for Ed Miliband. Not only does he have the physiognomy of a character from Wallace and Gromit, a brother who probably won’t speak to him, he now also has to deal with how the Labour party is funded and supported by the Unions under the watchful gaze of the whole country.... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2013/rumble-in-the-tuc/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:08:21 GMT 2727 Keith Stacey Sportsmen and women choke but apparently poker players "tilt". I came across this term in Nate Silver's excellent book the Signal and the Noise. Tilting is defined as over aggressive play brought on by a lack of perspective, or playing without discipline. A number of tilts are listed and could just as easily applies to negotiating... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2013/do-negotiators-tilt/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:08:21 GMT 2725 Simon Letchford I’ve always found it fascinating how many people who attend our negotiating skills training talk about how the techniques that work in the workplace have worked at home as well. There are, however, a few pitfalls for those who want to hone their negotiating skills in the kitchen, so I thought that I’d share a few domestic do's and don'ts, mostly learned the hard way... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2013/negotiating-bedtime-and-taking-out-the-trash/ Fri, 04 Aug 2023 15:31:18 GMT 2723 Stephen White In the week when the UK Government failed to secure the agreement of Parliament to take military action against the use of chemical weapons in Syria, I read about an interesting phenomenon which might help explain this failure, and which should worry President Obama who remarkably has gone for the same high-risk strategy, in his case asking Congress before taking military action. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2013/off-their-trolley/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:08:21 GMT 2726 Mike Freedman When we ask people to define negotiation on the Scotwork pre-course paperwork, purchasing people very often refer to “finding a middle road” or “common ground”. They deal every day with variables about which they and the people across the table feel differently and what they really mean is “let’s split the difference”. Sales people however refer to “persuasion” often as their all encompassing definition of negotiation. This persuasion they see as a unilateral process of changing the view of the other party in order to have them accept their offer or opinion. Salespeople often consider this to be an essential fundamental skill of their trade... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2013/if-you-feel-the-need-to-say-you-are-you-are-not/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:08:20 GMT 2721 John McMillan It is said that the two happiest times in a sailor’s life are the day they buy a boat and the day they sell their boat. I have a third occasion which beats even these. It is also said there are two types of sailors: those who like painting and those who like sailing. I fall into the latter category; maintenance is boring; sailing is fun.... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2013/all-at-sea/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:08:20 GMT 2720 Alan Smith I want you to try a little experiment. Think of a simple tune. Something like Happy Birthday to You. (The most performed song in the English language, incidently). Now find a colleague, friend or partner and tap out the song for them without telling them the name of the song. Do it once. Then do it again. And now once more for luck.... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2013/the-curse-of-knowledge/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:08:19 GMT 2719 Robin Copland Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport has, for the past month, played host to a pawn in the international diplomacy game, one Edward Snowden. Mr Snowden is a “whistle-blower” who, depending on your point of view, has courageously defended the rights of downtrodden untermensch the world over, or on the other hand has committed a treasonous offence so heinous as to be punishable by a lengthy spell behind bars – a spell so long that all kinds of keys may just as well be thrown down various drains... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2013/whistle-for-it/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:08:19 GMT 2718 Stephen White Do the Middle East negotiators have the skills to succeed? As talks begin in Washington between Israeli and Palestinian representatives – talks which both sides have described as negotiations – it is worthwhile considering their chances of success over the next nine months which is the timeframe they have given themselves. Past experience gives us little hope. The Oslo Accords and the Camp David Summit were both trumpeted as great opportunities, and both ultimately failed. There has been little talk between the parties since, at least in public. Is this because the Middle East problem is inherently insoluble, or because the capabilities of the parties are inadequate? https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2013/tragedy/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:08:19 GMT 2717 David Bannister ‘Of course!’ I hear you say, ‘lover of Mozart, GSOH, NS and follower of Yorkshire County cricket!’ That’s not what I meant, actually. I am wondering if there is a particular personality type who might make a more natural negotiator than other types do. I have to tell you that if you are compelled to read further, please do, but I am not going to give the answer to the question, because I don’t know it. I intend to try to find out, though... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2013/do-negotiators-have-a-personality/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:08:19 GMT 2716 Alan Smith Whilst I love the sight of a Chinese lantern drifting off aimlessly into a moonlit night on a lovely summers evening, I am not sure I will ever light one again. The apocalyptic blaze caused by one of these burning lanterns landing on the Jayplus recycling unit in Smethwick near Birmingham was captured live on CCTV. The resulting wall of flames could be seen from 80 miles away and the damage cost a reported £6 million. Not to mention the risk to life and limb bourn by the heroic fire service trying to manage the disaster. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2013/careless-talk-costs-margins/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:08:18 GMT 2715 Robin Copland As early as May this year, Lord Mandelson, the former business secretary and UK cabinet minister, warned that “a cabal at the top of the Labour national executive was trying to exert influence”, and that the Labour leader, Ed Miliband “was storing up danger for himself and for a future Labour government over parliamentary selections”. The row had blown up because Unite, the largest trade union in the UK, and in a move reminiscent of the Militant Tendency’s tactics in the 1970s and 80s, had quietly been infiltrating local labour constituency parties with their members by paying their membership fees en bloc. The union had specifically targeted seats where a selection was coming up... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2013/united-we-potentially-fall/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:08:18 GMT 2714 Alan Smith George North is a big man. Currently on tour in Australia with the British and Irish Lions, North stands at 6 feet 4 inches and weighs in at 240 lbs. That is over 17 stones in old money, as my mother would say. He is also only 21 years old and a prodigious rugby talent. In the first test he scored a phenomenal individual try and in the second a thunderous tackle that sent the Wallaby Israel Folau back several meters...... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2013/north-goes-east/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:08:18 GMT 2713 Stephen White In a sign of unabated consumer demand at the luxury end of the market $29 million was paid yesterday at auction for a 1982 painting entitled ‘Untitled’ (that must have taken some deep thinking) by Jean-Michel Basquiat (who he?). The estimated price before the auction was $25 million. You can see the painting here: http://bloom.bg/14muexk. I must say that it reminded me of much of the recent oeuvre of Millie, my 3 year old granddaughter, in what the family have come to describe as her Nursery Period. I don’t claim to know much about art, but I can think of better ways to spend $29m... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2013/for-a-few-dollars-more/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:08:18 GMT 2712 Robin Copland Britvic plc is a big company. Last year, it sold 1.9bn litres of soft drinks and it employs approximately 3500 people. Brands include Tango, J2O, Robinsons as well as its eponymous mixer drinks. It has a Scottish-based rival called A G Barr plc, makers of the iconic Scottish drink, Irn Bru (made from girders!), as well as Tizer and other well-known brands. A G Barr is also a big player in the soft drinks market with a turnover last year of £237m... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2013/britvic-barr-destined-to-go-flat/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:08:18 GMT 2711 Mike Freedman Taking a position in a conflict makes its resolution more difficult. And the more witnesses there are to that position-taking the less the likelihood of a negotiated settlement. In Istanbul positions have been taken in the most public sense possible in front of a global audience and I am not alone in fearing that a settlement is unlikely in the short-term. One thing we learn from watching thousands of hours of negotiation is that people either act or dig in NOT because of a complicated array of issues but usually for a SINGLE issue. Conversely, where many issues are raised these are generally some form of rationalisation of a single need or argument, or even a smoke screen. In Istanbul, the protestors’ single issue is that they feel that the government interferes with their personal choices and freedoms. The government, beneath the watchful eyes of the passive majority, feels a need not to be seen to have given in.... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2013/sometimes-you-cant-park-negotiations/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:08:17 GMT 2710 Yannis Dimarakis After being the centre of attention for several months late last year, Greece has been mostly out of the international news. Indeed, some commentators have suggested that the economy might be showing signs of turning the corner; not exactly light at the end of the tunnel, but at least the tunnel has now come into view... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2013/golden-nightmare/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:08:17 GMT 2709 Alan Smith I have been struck this week by the resolute nature by which an elderly lady in Wales has stood firm in the face of massive pressure from some of the UK’s largest companies, and just how difficult it is to engage when the other side are simply not interested. Bit of background.... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2013/no-means-no/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:08:17 GMT 2708 Alan Smith There is no doubt that people are strange. You and especially me! A number of studies into social psychology in the 1960’s sought to look at how this strangeness affects the way we live our lives and conduct our affairs. In 1966 experimenters went door to door in a suburban neighborhood asking residents if they would agree to a huge advertisement reading, “drive safely” being erected in their garden. They were shown a picture of how it would look. Just so you know the photo showed a lovely home almost totally obscured by the billboard... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2013/why-we-can-be-persuaded-to-do-stupid-things/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:08:17 GMT 2707 Alan Smith Asking good questions that are tough, direct and specific is one of the key things we can do to improve the quality of our negotiation behavior and resulting outcomes. A study in the US tried to identify the best kind of questions to ask in a classic buyer seller relationship... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2013/stupid-question/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:08:16 GMT 2706 Alan Smith The UK Government announced last week, a string of reforms designed to change the way that prisons operate. One of the key areas is the way that prisoners earn privileges. Justice Secretary Chris Grayling said: "In the past, we've sent the wrong message. “From November, inmates must "actively earn privileges" and are being warned a simple absence of bad behaviour will "not be enough"... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2013/concessions-must-be-earned/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:08:16 GMT 2705 Stephen White As the death toll from the collapse of the Rana Plaza garment manufacturing building in Dhaka, Bangladesh approaches 400, the attention of the world’s press is focussing on the Western companies who buy merchandise from the manufacturers located in this and other similar buildings. Reports over many years have highlighted issues of sweated labour, pitiful wages, and the employment of young children. These are disgraceful abuses of human rights which buyers claim they were unaware of at the time, and appropriate noises about improving conditions for workers are made, only for the same allegations to crop up again a few months later... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2013/collapsing-worlds/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:08:16 GMT 2704 Robin Copland BMW used to do it. So did Mercedes. Porsche and Ferrari still do as far as I am aware, though it’s been a while since I checked. Then along came the so-called “budget” airlines and the tactic is back in vogue with a vengeance. It starts with a loud - gaudy even – welcome page on which there is loudly displayed a low figure. At the time of writing, the figure is £10. The word “cheap” appears and you are tempted along to the “flights” window. “£10” and “flights” together; it’s a heady mix that conjures up the golden age of travel together with cheap air fares, so you delve deeper. Mind you – the words “golden age of travel” and “Ryanair” are not comfortable bedfellows, but never mind; I live in Edinburgh – where could I go? What could go wrong?... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2013/add-on/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:08:16 GMT 2703 Claudio Cubito When the painter James McNeill Whistler was a cadet at West Point, he was assigned to draw a bridge in an engineering class. Whistler drew a spectacular bridge and included two boys fishing from it. His deliberate inclusion displeased the instructor, who ordered him to draw it again without the young fishermen on the bridge. Whistler did as he was instructed, but unwilling to completely stifle his vision; he drew the bridge again with the boys fishing from the riverbank. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2013/creativity-should-be-embraced-not-quashed/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:08:15 GMT 2702 David Bannister Many words have been written in the past few days since the death of former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, some reflect her perceived greatness and others portray her as a class enemy. I cannot hope to emulate the lyrical heights to which some have soared in the press. I can, however, look back and reflect on the way she dealt with trade unions and specifically the National Union of Mineworkers in the 1980s. During that time I was an Industrial Relations Officer in a manufacturing factory situated in the middle of the South Yorkshire coalfield. Friends and neighbours were involved both practically and emotionally in all of the events of that memorable year from March 1984 to March 1985... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2013/thatcher-power-and-the-lessons-of-confrontation/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:08:15 GMT 2700 Stephen White A recent article in the New York Times draws a comparison between the physiological aspects of hearing and listening. In brief the author, neuroscientist Professor Seth Horowitz, says that the process of hearing works from our ears to an area in the brain which is automatically able to register and then tune out background noise. Listening, he says, is different; when our attention is grabbed the electrical impulses from our ears take a pathway to a different area of the brain, associated with computation. At a basic level this allows our defence mechanisms to fire up. We describe this as being startled – and this overrides the background noise and allows us to focus on what we are hearing and process it accordingly. That’s listening!... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2013/listen-up/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:08:15 GMT 2699 The Scotwork Team Over the weekend there were reports in the UK media that the multinational retailer Laura Ashley had written to its suppliers requesting an immediate 10% cost price reduction on all orders already agreed and contracted. The demand was accompanied by a statement that this would save Laura Ashley the need to review its supplier base – in other words, failure to agree would prompt such a review, and some suppliers would inevitably be delisted as a result... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2013/bad-behaviour/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:08:15 GMT 2698 Robin Copland The current financial crisis in one of the EU’s outposts, Cyprus, clearly exemplifies and demonstrates some undeniable negotiating truths... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2013/an-inconvenient-series-of-truths/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:08:14 GMT 2696 Mark Simpson Nervous negotiators may often be tempted to partake in a drop of “Dutch Courage” before entering what they anticipate will be difficult negotiations. Our advice is DON’T and it seems the United Nations now agree with us... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2013/dutch-courage-at-the-un/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:08:14 GMT 2695 Stephen White Shortly after taking office for his second term, President Obama announced that he would visit the Middle East to kick-start a peace process. That visit is scheduled for later this month, but there was speculation last week that it might be cancelled if the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, also recently re-elected, has not been able to form a coalition government before the Obama visit... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2013/the-critical-mass/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:08:14 GMT 2694 Alan Smith The British Prime Minister David Cameron said that the talks with John Kerry, the new US Secretary of State, would be so far reaching that it would be difficult to know where to start. I am sure he was joking. At least I hope he was..... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2013/we-dont-know-where-to-start/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:08:13 GMT 2693 Alan Smith Imagine you are very late home. And I mean late. You creep up the stairs at 3 am, placing your feet carefully at the extreme edge of each step missing that third creaky step. You push the bedroom door open and pad gently across the floor. Forget brushing your teeth, way too noisy. You can flush in the morning. As you remove your trousers too late you remember the coins in the back pocket. As they crash to the wooden floor your other half springs into action... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2013/im-not-telling/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:08:13 GMT 2692 Alan Smith Perhaps a better question might be, where’s the beef? The continuing furore about what actually is in our food took another turn when Findus had to withdraw all of their Frozen Beef Lasagne after it was discovered that the beef was actually horse. Neigh I hear you cry... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2013/whats-the-beef/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:08:13 GMT 2691 Stephen White The UK press this week has been obsessed with the story of Liberal Democrat MP and ex Cabinet Minister Chris Huhne who resigned his position after pleading guilty to a charge of Perverting the Course of Justice. For our international readers (UK readers can skip to the next paragraph) Huhne was caught by a speed camera in 2003, but his wife agreed to say that she was driving the car, and the speeding penalty points were allocated to her instead of him. As a result he didn’t lose his driving licence, although ironically just a few weeks later he did after being caught driving whilst talking on his mobile phone. In 2010, after press revelations that he was having an affair, his wife left him and in a fit of pique she told the police of the events seven years earlier. He was arrested, but strenuously denied the charge and used every legal device available to get the case dropped. He failed, and when the case came to court last Monday he finally admitted his guilt. The judge has indicated that he can expect a prison sentence... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2013/it-takes-two/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:08:13 GMT 2690 Gaëtan Pellerin Each of us has encountered this type of negotiator: A customer who threatens to give your business to a competitor if you don’t give in to what he or she wants. A family member or close friend who behaves as a victim, playing the guilt card. Or an angry boss when the outcome is not what he or she expected... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2013/negotiating-with-bullies/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:08:12 GMT 2689 Alan Smith Following the Christmas break, you could be forgiven for thinking this stands for Fat, Flatulent and Fund-less. It is however the classic human response to stress, flight, fight or freeze as described by Dr Steve Peters in his excellent book, The Chimp Paradox... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2013/triple-f/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:08:12 GMT 2687 Alan Smith Practice pays off. Rory McIlroy’s ride to immortality publicly entered a new phase this week with the official announcement of his sponsorship deal with Nike, reportedly worth over £20 million per year, whose equipment and apparel he will exhibit beside Tiger Woods, Nike’s first golfing icon.... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2013/practice-makes-almost-perfect/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:08:12 GMT 2686 Stephen White The most frequent request asked of Scotwork consultants is ‘Teach me how to know I have paid the right price’. It comes from a lifetime of self-doubt; that although the negotiated deal looks like a good one, satisfies the need, resolves the conflict, addresses the issues and falls within the levels of affordability, there is a demon nagging at the back of the brain. ‘Sucker!’ says the demon, ‘you could have done much better than that’... https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2013/the-right-price/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:08:12 GMT 2685 Alan Smith When I was younger, so much younger than today - I would occasionally find myself in situations which I really struggled to handle. Let me give you an example. There was this particular chap, whom we will call Ian Sharples for the purpose of the story; he was 2 years older than me, considerably bigger, and to be honest, a bit rough-looking. Even his mother struggled to love him. https://www.scotwork.co.uk/insights/2013/i-ll-tell-my-brother/ Wed, 11 Nov 2020 11:08:11 GMT 2684