The Negotiation Guru

As I was driving this morning, I discovered something about human psychology. Or rather, I was under the effects of human psychology. I was driving and decided that I should take the right lane as it had faster traffic. As I drove on the right lane for 5 mins, it became really slow. Cars were moving very slowly, and the cars on the left lane were zooming past me. Subconsciously I was telling myself, “The right lane will be faster, I am pretty sure about that”. I stuck to my original decision for a good whole 10mins.

Suddenly, I realized that I was not making a rational choice. I should have switched to the left. So why didn’t I do that?I had invested too much into right lane. To prove that I was right, I stuck to my own decision despite it was not a rational thing to do. This is common to investors who invest in the stock market. They always sell the stocks that are earning and keep the stocks that are losing money. And this is because they want to prove that their initial judgment is right.In negotiation, we often get too committed to a deal. We invest our time and effort into preparing a deal and negotiating it. As time passes, we grew more committed to closing the deal. People say yes to a bad deal because they have invested too much and feel that they will lose more if they have no deal.Avoid getting hooked into such a situation. Always have a bottom-line and never compromise on your goals. Sometimes, no deal is better and a bad deal.