A quick word first
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Negotiation is a process of improvisation, just like jazz (hence the title of this publication). In both worlds players have to deal with the unexpected and act on the fly. Even if we’re good at it, we’re bound to mess up some of the time. It may be that:
We made an offer that we now realize won’t work for us.
We’ve promised something that we can’t deliver.
We’ve inadvertently insulted the other party.
There’s no winding back the clock. There’s no do-over. What next, then?
For an answer, I turn to jazz, in particular to a book by my friend and colleague, Frank Barrett, Yes to the Mess: Surprising Leadership Lessons from Jazz.
Frank speaks of the importance of having an “appreciative mindset.” His adjective has dual meanings. It’s fully taking things in, having a clear-eyed view of the situation, while still believing there is something good we can make of it. The French anthropologist Claude-Levi Strauss called this bricolage. In the U.S. it’s more familiarly known as “McGyvering” (a nod to the 1980’s action-adventure series McGyver). It’s improvising a solution with a few pieces of junk, some duct tape, and a Swiss Army knife.
My HBS colleague Francisca Gino recently spoke of this attitude from a complementary perspective in her TEDx talk, “The Power of Why: Unlocking a Curious Mind.” Curiosity is essential when we are painfully surprised, no doubt about that. But I’d add that it must also be coupled with optimism, even hope.
Wynton Marsalis, the great trumpeter, expresses this in an inspiring episode in HBO’s Master Class series, where he’s coaching a trio of young musicians. I encourage you to see the whole session. It’s a master class not only on jazz, but also about teaching, and engaging with others warmly and sensitively, while at the same time, being honest and direct.
If you’re pressed for time, start at the 9 minute 30 second mark to see how he treats a gifted seventeen year-old pianist who had just made a mistake in his playing. The kid recognized his error immediately, which then messed up what did afterwards. Here’s what Wynton told him:
“What you think comes through in your playing. Okay? So the one thing you always need is hope. When you lose hope and you’re thinking, ‘What am I going to do with this?’, you’re not going to do anything with it because you already projected it.
“It’s a moment of absolute clarity because you’re there now. We jump off a building. We can’t jump back up. Now we’ve got to figure either we got to fly or we’re going to hae to grab something. Okay. Grab something. Or fly.”
To me, that’s like the right attitude not just for jazz, negotiation, but for life in general.
Housekeeping
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Please share the piece with people in your network who want to expand their knowledge of negotiation. Thanks! Mike