Ranse Howell & Andy Rogers discuss the dark art of negotiation
Lawyers are frequently among the best trained professionals, expert in the law, but when it comes to resolving a fraught problem outside court—and even on the steps of court—the experience is usually “on the job” rather than formally learnt. Breaking deadlock is not easy, often more so when there are challenging personalities involved, so is the profession sufficiently equipped to deal with this task?
The next time you board a plane, would you ask your pilot where they learned how to navigate stormy weather while in flight? More than likely they went through hours upon hours of training dedicated to teaching pilots to handle thunderstorms, turbulence, and the various unknowns that take place at 10,000 metres. You would be rather displeased to hear that your pilot has not, in fact, been professionally trained in handling potentially dangerous situations, and that instead they have learned how to handle the plane only from video games and reading books about pilots.
Turbulence
Negotiation similarly entails handling the more turbulent side of business—there is no way
