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Why it can be good to be inconsistent in a negotiation


The book influence by Robert B. Cialdini, PH.D. has become an international bestseller. This book on persuasion explains why people say ‘yes’ and how to apply this knowledge. He discusses six common principles which he also calls mental short cuts as we rely on mental short cuts every time we are faced with a decision. He explains how to use these principles, how to become a skilled persuader and how to defend yourself from them.

In this post we will discuss the second principle – Commitment and Consistency
Our actions tend to be in line with what is consistent with our previous actions. If we make a promise we would not want to break it, especially when we have made that promise publicly and voluntarily. It makes us accountable.

Cialdini describes an experiment that had been staged by a psychologist Thomas Moriarty at a beach in New York City. In the study a researcher would put a towel on the beach a few feet away from a randomly chosen individual. The researcher would lie on the towel listening to music. A few minutes later the researcher would get up for a walk along the beach. Another researcher pretending to be a thief would pass by the towel and steal the radio. The researchers did this experiment 20 times and only 4 out of 20 challenged the thief. The others did not challenge the thief for various reasons such as not putting themselves in danger, not wanting to get involved.
The researchers then changed the scenario whereby the random individual was asked to watch their things when the researcher went for a beach walk. The result was that 19 out of 20 subjects challenged the thief.

This comes back to being consistent with what we are doing. Once we have made a choice or have taken a stand on something, we feel the pressure to follow that commitment with consistency. Whether or not the choice was good we simply convince ourselves that we have made the right choice which then lead to the subject becoming vigilantes of the things of the stranger by running after the thief trying to stop him and wrestling him to the ground.
Consistency is a trait that is highly valued whereas inconsistency is seen as a fault. People who are consistent are considered as reliable, stable, honest, knowing what they want, and goal orientated. Consistency is something that his highly valued in our society.
In the context of negotiation, consistency is a powerful behaviour and a powerful tool to get someone to agree to your deal. If you can get a small commitment from the other party this means that you will get more, as people act in a consistent manner in line with their starting point.
Consistency also gives you a great insight into the other party’s behaviour, you just have to observe them. For instance, they could be always late for meetings, or they could be using the same tactics again and again. What about their negotiation behaviour, are they consistent in their behaviour? Are they rejecting an offer first and then come to the table?

All these insights can be useful in the negotiation and can be used against the other party.
If you are a consistent negotiator that is a good trait to have but it makes you predictable.

Some negotiators would stage inconsistency in order to throw the other party. For instance, you are always on time but this time you are 15 minutes late; or you always do the negotiations with your business partner but this time you are bringing someone else who the other party does not know.
Becoming inconsistent can be a throw off tactic.

#negotiationtraining #influencing #robertcialdini #negotiation



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