When the other side has more leverage
84 cards from 14 books, filed under “Negotiating”. Newest first; every row is the card’s title and the moment you would use it.
#c1555The Two-Tier Value Calculus: Preferred Indifferents and the Invention of DutyHigh-stakes negotiations, entrepreneurial risk-taking, or career crises where you need maximum tactical drive to win external resources…From Lives of Eminent Philosophers
#c1548Beat the Bag of AnaxarchusUse when facing institutional coercion, cancellation, or hostile negotiations where an opponent assumes that threatening your outer…From Lives of Eminent Philosophers
#c1463The Coin Under the WheelsYour company ruins a contractor's livelihood and offers a tiny gift card. Scrap the token gesture and pay the full cost of the damage.From A Tale of Two Cities
#c1449Can You Eat The Margin You HoardBefore squeezing a struggling supplier on payment terms to pad cash reserves, ask who will ship to you during a shortage.From The Hobbit
#c1445Sudden Windfalls Turn Old Partners Into BesiegersBefore an acquisition closes or a patent pays out, lock every contributor's exact payout percentage into an escrow contract they cannot…From The Hobbit
#c1383Turn the lights offA partner who depends on your results is treating you as the problem.From Matriarch
#c1378Negotiate up frontA collaborator is about to start work and nobody has discussed price.From Matriarch
#c1377The advance is your debtSomeone offers money up front and you haven't worked out what you'll owe for it.From Matriarch
#c1365Buy it back for a dollarThe owner of something you want is under pressure to get rid of it.From Cancel Me If You Can
#c1364Keep the name in-houseA partner offers easy money to put your brand on their product.From Cancel Me If You Can
#c1363When the partnership splits, ask for the IPYou're negotiating with a group that is holding out and one member wants to settle.From Cancel Me If You Can
#c1360Your investors are business partnersYou're taking money from investors and want to know what to expect from them.From Cancel Me If You Can
#c1359Name the one term you'll walk overYou have one term you're truly willing to walk away over and the other side treats it as negotiable.From Cancel Me If You Can
#c1358Take the deal when the timing and the partner are rightAn offer undervalues you but solves your real constraints and comes from a partner you trust.From Cancel Me If You Can
#c1356Show them the engine, skip the pitchYou have a metric that proves your value better than any presentation.From Cancel Me If You Can
#c1355Don't beg for investmentYou're raising money and the process feels like pleading.From Cancel Me If You Can
#c1350Rising nobodies beat established starsYou're deciding between a proven big name and a hungry up-and-comer.From Cancel Me If You Can
#c1342Make them earn your voteThe other side links an unrelated favor to your agreement.From Courage Can Save Us
#c1333State your price, then stop talkingYou're being pressured to fold and have already told the other side what it would take.From Courage Can Save Us
#c1332Deliver an ironclad blocYou lead a small group in a close contest and could trade its unity for influence.From Courage Can Save Us
#c1324It's always easier to vote noYou support a compromise that has obvious flaws and opposing it would be easier.From Courage Can Save Us
#c1323Talk only about the substanceYou're negotiating with someone from a camp your side distrusts.From Courage Can Save Us
#c1322Fill the reservoir of trust before you need itYou'll eventually need a deal with a rival and have no reason yet to talk to them.From Courage Can Save Us
#c1316Every system thinks it's the smartest in the roomYou're mediating between teams, partners or systems that each insist on their own way of working.From Digital Impact
#c1315Know what you're building before you pick up the hammerYou're starting a project that merges information owned by several teams.From Digital Impact
#c1298Your reputation is a teacupCutting a corner or snubbing someone junior looks free in the short run.From Trade Outside the Box
#c1293Don't let adverse selection paralyze youYou're worried that anyone willing to deal with you must know something you don't.From Trade Outside the Box
#c1292Weight their view by how wide they quoteThe other side's number differs from yours and you have to decide how much to move.From Trade Outside the Box
#c1287Find the player on tiltThe other side is visibly emotional and you're tempted to match their energy.From Trade Outside the Box
#c1286Watch for the market eating an OreoSomething that should have moved the other side didn't, and you're inclined to ignore it.From Trade Outside the Box
#c1279The Smarties test for adultsYou're sure the other side must see what you see.From Trade Outside the Box
#c1277Listen and then thinkYou're preparing what to say in a meeting where you haven't yet heard the other side.From The Oxford Handbook of Modern Diplomacy
#c1274Unpack and reframeA negotiation is stuck on one big all-or-nothing issue.From The Oxford Handbook of Modern Diplomacy
#c1273Moving the goalposts, best versus goodEach time a deal gets close, someone declares it not good enough.From The Oxford Handbook of Modern Diplomacy
#c1272Fronting and slipstreamingOne party is carrying a tough position alone in a group negotiation and the others are quiet.From The Oxford Handbook of Modern Diplomacy
#c1271Name the stall when you see itA proposal is going nowhere through endless questions, studies and referrals.From The Oxford Handbook of Modern Diplomacy
#c1270Signing is the beginningA hard-won agreement has just been signed and attention is moving elsewhere.From The Oxford Handbook of Modern Diplomacy
#c1269Constituents need to know whyYou're closing a deal at the top that the wider team will have to carry out.From The Oxford Handbook of Modern Diplomacy
#c1268Spoilers don't get a seat, but they get heardSomeone who loses from a pending agreement is quietly working against it.From The Oxford Handbook of Modern Diplomacy
#c1267Test motives instead of pleadingYou're chasing a reluctant party to the table and wondering why each round goes nowhere.From The Oxford Handbook of Modern Diplomacy
#c1266Only the parties can make the peaceYou're brokering a deal and one side has sent someone who can't commit.From The Oxford Handbook of Modern Diplomacy
#c1265Be an honest broker, not a neutral oneYou're mediating between two people or teams and feel you have to hide your own views.From The Oxford Handbook of Modern Diplomacy
#c1264Build a workaround when the formal check failsThe agreed method of checking compliance has been blocked by someone outside the deal.From The Oxford Handbook of Modern Diplomacy
#c1263Agree on what the words meanYou've reached agreement in principle and the central term hasn't been spelled out.From The Oxford Handbook of Modern Diplomacy
#c1261Don't spend your trusted channel on a lieYou're tempted to use a relationship built on candor to deliver a convenient falsehood.From The Oxford Handbook of Modern Diplomacy
#c1260Empathy is a working toolYou're trying to resolve a dispute without a real model of what the other side fears.From The Oxford Handbook of Modern Diplomacy
#c1259Time to cool down saved the worldYou've just been provoked and the pressure is on to answer today.From The Oxford Handbook of Modern Diplomacy
#c1258Let a neutral party propose your concessionYou're willing to concede something but can't be seen offering it.From The Oxford Handbook of Modern Diplomacy
#c1257Frame the threat as a shared problemYou need to convey a deadline without triggering the defiance an ultimatum invites.From The Oxford Handbook of Modern Diplomacy
#c1256Every public statement has two audiencesYou're sending a warning through a public channel and assuming the target will read it the way you meant it.From The Oxford Handbook of Modern Diplomacy
#c1255Negotiation, in one sentenceYou're pushing for the best possible terms and haven't asked whether the other side will still want to comply next year.From The Oxford Handbook of Modern Diplomacy
#c1237Treat the surprising answer as a giftYou're talking to someone on the fence and they say something that makes you want to argue.From This Is the Plan
#c1198Back the visiting trader's debtsYou want outside traders in your market and need them to trust it.From Carthage: A New History
#c1189Carry half the tokenYou need a stranger in another port to trust your agent or your shipment.From Carthage: A New History
#c1184Cut the oxhide into stripsSomeone asks you for 'just one' of something and nobody has said how it is measured.From Carthage: A New History
#c1183Silent trade: lay it out, step back, waitYou have to strike a deal with no common language and no trust.From Carthage: A New History
#c1162Have them rule on the case before you name the defendantYou need someone to accept a consequence they will resist once they see it applies to them.From Cyropaedia
#c1139Raise the money while you're flushYou plan to start fundraising when the runway gets short.From Cyropaedia
#c1109Repeat their claim while your facts take it apartYou have to answer a respected opponent without attacking them by name.From The Art of Public Speaking
#c1087Get it by seeming not to want itYou badly want the deal and the other side can tell.From The Art of Worldly Wisdom
#c1086Arrive underbilledYou're about to announce a launch, a hire or a product with big claims attached.From The Art of Worldly Wisdom
#c1085Never fight someone with nothing to loseSomeone with no standing to protect is baiting you into a public dispute.From The Art of Worldly Wisdom
#c1084Give a gilded NoYou have to turn down a request from someone you'll need again.From The Art of Worldly Wisdom
#c1083Show your teeth at the first encroachmentA counterpart has just asked for a small extra that wasn't in the deal.From The Art of Worldly Wisdom
#c1082Don't show the sore pointYou're tempted to tell the other side which concession would hurt you most.From The Art of Worldly Wisdom
#c1081Announce the decision after, never beforeYou want to tell everyone what you are about to try.From The Art of Worldly Wisdom
#c1080Turn the attacker into a confidantSomeone has started to undermine you and retaliation is the first idea you have.From The Art of Worldly Wisdom
#c1079Call the break a cooling, never a fightA partnership has to end and you want to say what you really think on the way out.From The Art of Worldly Wisdom
#c1078Pay the reward before it's earnedYou plan to reward a partner after delivery and wonder whether to give it now instead.From The Art of Worldly Wisdom
#c1077Ask after the meal, never after a refusalYou need a yes from someone and can pick the moment to ask.From The Art of Worldly Wisdom
#c1076Doubt the secret out of themSomeone hints they have a better offer and won't say what it is.From The Art of Worldly Wisdom
#c1075Watch the man who comes second on purposeSomeone is a little too relaxed about a deal they started.From The Art of Worldly Wisdom
#c1074Satisfy the want, keep the dependenceYou are about to give the client everything up front and lose your leverage for phase two.From The Art of Worldly Wisdom
#c1073Talk about today's mistake as if it were long pastYou need to tell someone their current project is failing.From The Art of Worldly Wisdom
#c1072Float it first so you can still withdrawYou want to know if a big ask will fly before you make it on the record.From The Art of Worldly Wisdom
#c1071Sell it as for connoisseurs, never as easyYou are writing a launch page and reaching for "simple" and "for everyone."From The Art of Worldly Wisdom
#c1070Lead with their business to get to yoursYour contact refuses any request that opens with what you need.From The Art of Worldly Wisdom
#c1069When they grab the right side, take it anywayYour rival staked out the sensible position first and you feel pressure to oppose it.From The Art of Worldly Wisdom
#c1068Don't let them learn your tastesYou are about to tell a counterpart which option you love before the terms are set.From The Art of Worldly Wisdom
#c1067Show one purpose, strike with the otherAn opening demand looks too obvious, or you are about to react to the other side's first move.From The Art of Worldly Wisdom
#c1066Time and I against any twoThe other side needs the deal closed this quarter and you do not.From The Art of Worldly Wisdom
#c1065Hold the dissent, say it later to a fewYou think a popular plan is wrong and are tempted to say so in the all-hands.From The Art of Worldly Wisdom
#c1064Find the idol, then say the one wordYour good arguments keep failing on someone and you have not asked what they actually want.From The Art of Worldly Wisdom
#c1063Hand the boss advice as something he forgotYou have to correct someone above you who is proud of their judgment.From The Art of Worldly Wisdom