One Skill you need to win any negotiation

We negotiate daily. Almost everything in life and business is unknowingly negotiated. We negotiate Work-Life Balance, Salary, Job Position and so on. Even in our society, we negotiate with each other. We all must try our level best to adopt the best negotiation skills to avoid misunderstandings and lead a peaceful and stress-free life. No one likes conflicts and should be ready with the required skill set for better negotiations. If not, we end up in conflict, tension, and anxiety.

 "Mexican Standoff" is a common phenomenon in Business Negotiations. Here all parties maintain their "Position" or "Stand" and the deal remains unresolved unless an external factor affects it.

How often we encountered this situation? What we forget is that Negotiation is all about "Give and Take". The subject of Game Theory has influenced Negotiation from the times of our Great Great Grandfathers. Recent studies and research also helped us to master it.

To master negotiation and Game theory techniques, you need only one skill set. This skill set will make you a master in negotiation. Humans have fought for Land, Water, Pride, etc. But believe me, "War" is still on. And this war is about information. Yes!! You heard it right. Information is the next BIG thing. Countries, People, Government or individuals having "Information" will be at a superior position. The skill to gather info will make you a Winner.

Every book in Game theory talks about "Prisoner's dilemma" and lots of movies have introduced this concept in different context and creatives.

But to make everyone understand, I thought it is better to quote the final standoff from the Clint Eastwood's 1966 movie “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly". The final “Three-way dual" is the Best example of how information is important and what "Game Theory" is all about. Here Clint and two other men are standing in a triangular position where each one is having a clear shot at one other. Whom do they shoot? They will stand forever holding their position unless they seek "information".

In the movie, Clint has written something on a rock which holds the key to the "Gold" they are seeking. So others can't shoot Clint. What if the info is wrong? Only Clint knows it!!! Other vital Information that Clint holds is that one of their guns are empty. This is a vital factor. Clint just has to fire at the person who has the loaded gun. So simple. Here information is the winner. The Game is won before it started. As reviewed by Phil Mellinger, Clint sets up a situation where each evaluates their possible moves, but in reality, Clint has already won the game.

This is a brilliant example of Game Theory and how an external factor (here - information regarding the gun) pays off in a Mexican Standoff.

There can be lots of real-life examples where you as a reader came across in life or business. And I encourage you to share them below.