A Summer of Reminders for Successful Negotiation

This summer has been full of significant sets of negotiation in the   political arena at home and abroad. These events illustrate some of the key dynamics of negotiation such as power, time, information and compromise. These hold true whether negotiations occur between countries/provinces, organizations or individuals.
 
Let’s take a look at how our examples from the summer played out:
 
Alberta’s Rachel Notley after her very first Premier’s Conference in St John’s Newfoundland made this telling comment:
 
“Negotiations are not about standing in the corner and having a     tantrum. Negotiations are about what you get at the other end. That’s what I’m focused on now”. She was  referring to her sparring with Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall over how to make the sale with the Eastern provinces with respect to the Energy East Pipeline. What Notley had been trying to do is collect information in this case on how environmental concerns that Quebec has might be mitigated. The premier was criticized by some for taking too conciliatory an approach but really was simply displaying an understanding that if the government of Quebec was to change its stance, they would have to have a palatable “get” as well. Any   successful negotiation involves compromise and concessions by both sides providing that they are part of a process of yielding to reasonableness. 
 
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