How does "Probe for interests, not positions" work?

Positions are claimed outcomes (“I need $80k”); interests are the underlying needs that position is meant to satisfy (“I need to cover rent and save for a car”). When parties expose interests, they often discover the overlap or complementarity that makes a trade possible. Staying at the position level eliminates options before they can be seen.

How does "Map the ZOPA before negotiating" work?

The zone of possible agreement (ZOPA) is the range between each side’s reservation price — the point at which they’d prefer no deal. Without a clear sense of where the ZOPA sits, negotiators either anchor too low (leaving money behind) or anchor outside the zone (breaking the conversation before it starts). Mapping the ZOPA in advance anchors the first offer optimally.

Expanding the Pie: Negotiation Beyond Splitting the Difference

Q: How does "Make multiple equivalent simultaneous offers (MESOs)" work?

When you offer multiple packages at once, the other party’s choice reveals which issues they value most — information you couldn’t get by asking directly. That signal lets you repackage the deal to give them more of what they care about in exchange for more of what you care about, creating joint gains that a single take-it-or-leave-it offer forecloses.

Q: How does "Use a post-settlement settlement to improve a deal after agreement" work?

The pressure of reaching agreement often locks negotiators into the first workable deal rather than the best possible one. A post-settlement settlement (PSS) reduces that pressure: both sides commit to the current deal as a floor, then explore alternatives with nothing to lose. Because the fallback is secured, both sides can take creative risks they wouldn’t take earlier.

Q: How does "Logroll by trading issues of unequal importance" work?

Logrolling works because two parties rarely have identical preferences across every issue. When party A values price more than timeline, and party B values timeline more than price, a trade where A gets better price and B gets better timeline leaves both ahead of any equal split. The mechanism is simple arbitrage of differing marginal values.

Q: How does "Write contingent contracts when forecasts disagree" work?

Negotiators often deadlock because each side genuinely believes the world will unfold in their favor. A contingent contract converts that disagreement into a bet: if my prediction is right, the terms tilt my way; if yours is right, they tilt yours. It resolves the impasse without either side having to abandon their belief, and aligns incentives with performance.

Q: How does "Run a negotiation debrief to learn what value was left on the table" work?

Negotiators routinely leave joint gains unclaimed because they never learn what the other side actually valued. A structured debrief — where both sides reveal their priority rankings after the deal — makes the missed trades visible, building the skill of interest-spotting for future negotiations. The debrief itself creates no risk since the deal is already closed.

How do you create more value in a negotiation instead of just dividing what exists?

Expanding the pie means trading across issues that the two parties value differently, so both sides gain more than any fixed compromise would allow. Malhotra and Bazerman’s research shows that most negotiators leave joint gains on the table because they treat every issue as a zero-sum battle.

Most people enter a negotiation ready to split the difference. That works if one thing is on the table, but in almost every real negotiation multiple issues are live at once — and the parties rarely care about them equally. Malhotra and Bazerman’s integrative framework starts with a diagnostic question: where do our interests differ, and can those differences be turned into trades? The practices below draw on that framework, grounded in the mechanism of each, with an honest read on the evidence.

Practices

Probe for interests, not positions

Ask why the other side wants what they say they want before responding to what they say.

Make multiple equivalent simultaneous offers (MESOs)

Propose several package deals of equal value to you — see which the other side prefers.

Use a post-settlement settlement to improve a deal after agreement

Once you have a deal, offer to keep exploring whether a better one exists for both sides.

Logroll by trading issues of unequal importance

Concede on what matters less to you in exchange for gains on what matters more.

Write contingent contracts when forecasts disagree

If you and the other side have different predictions, let the outcome decide who was right.

Run a negotiation debrief to learn what value was left on the table

After closing, compare priorities with the other side to see the trades you both missed.

Map the ZOPA before negotiating

Know your walk-away point and estimate theirs before the first offer is made.

Practice this with IX Coach

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Expanding the Pie: Negotiation Beyond Splitting the Difference

Practices

Probe for interests, not positions

Make multiple equivalent simultaneous offers (MESOs)

Use a post-settlement settlement to improve a deal after agreement

Logroll by trading issues of unequal importance

Write contingent contracts when forecasts disagree

Run a negotiation debrief to learn what value was left on the table

Map the ZOPA before negotiating

Practice this with IX Coach

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