I want to propose / a new way of thinking about negotiation / and what you're trying to achieve in that negotiation. // And then what I want to do is give you four steps to help you be more effective / in getting what you want. // Folks typically see negotiation as an adversarial process / and are uncomfortable / because / they're concerned that other folks will think of them / as too demanding, / too greedy, / not nice, / or socially awkward. // What I want to do today / is get you to change the frame / of how you think about negotiation, / moving it from an adversarial process / to one / that is problem-solving. // And problem-solving is collaborative. // I want to solve our problem / in a way that's good for you / but also gives me more of what it is I want. // When we negotiate, / most of us view the goal of a negotiation / as to get an agreement. // This is wrong. // The goal of a negotiation is not / to get a deal. // The goal of a negotiation / is to get a good deal. // We need to be able to separate / what a good deal is / from what a bad deal is. // So that means we need at least three pieces of information. // The first thing we need to know is / what is our alternative. // What happens to us if this negotiation fails? // What are we left with? // What's the status quo / or what alternatives exist for us? // And the research is very clear. // He or she / with a better alternative / does better. // Secondly, / we need to know what our reservation price is. // What's the point at which we are indifferent / between / saying yes / and invoking our alternative? // And when you negotiate, / it's critical that you understand where that reservation price is / because that's the point at which you are indifferent, / where a no looks as good / as a yes. // And the third point, / which is really important / and one that people often overlook, / is that not only do we have to think about our alternative / and our reservation price, / we also need to think about our aspiration. // What is an optimistic assessment / of what it is we can achieve in this negotiation? //