Share information to unlock value

Reveal interests (not your bottom line) so both sides can find the better deal.

Why it works

Integrative deals require knowing each other’s priorities, but total secrecy blocks that discovery while full disclosure invites exploitation. The resolution is reciprocal sharing of interests and priorities — not reservation prices — which lets you find joint gains while protecting your claiming position.

How to do it

1. Share your interests and relative priorities, while guarding your walk-away number.
2. Offer information reciprocally — give a little, invite the same, build trust incrementally.
3. Use packaged offers, which reveal priorities through the trades without exposing limits.

Evidence

Research finds information exchange about interests and priorities improves the odds of reaching integrative agreements; pure secrecy tends to produce worse joint outcomes. Thompson’s information-exchange experiments isolate the mechanism: sharing priorities (not reservation prices) raises joint gains, while withholding them leaves compatible trades undiscovered. (observational)

Over-disclosure (revealing your reservation price) hands away your claiming power; the skill is sharing interests, not limits.

Sources

• Thompson, L. (1991). Information exchange in negotiation. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 27(2), 161–179.
• Pruitt, D. G., & Lewis, S. A. (1975). Development of integrative solutions in bilateral negotiation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 31(4), 621–633.

Common mistake

Either hoarding all information (so no joint gains surface) or oversharing your bottom line (so you get exploited in the split).