Hardball-tactics
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title: Hardball Tactics description: Recognize the tactic before reacting to it.
HARDBALL TACTICS
Don’t fight the tactic. Identify the tactic.
Sometimes the other side deliberately creates pressure.
The first defense is simply recognizing what is happening.
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EXCESSIVE ANCHOR
They start with an extreme demand.
Response: ask for justification.
Don’t immediately negotiate against yourself.
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NEGOTIATING AGAINST YOURSELF
They make a proposal.
I reject it.
They remain silent.
I improve my own offer.
I just negotiated against myself.
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RED HERRING
They introduce an issue that appears important.
I spend time negotiating it.
They eventually “concede” it.
Maybe they never cared about it.
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BIG CONCESSION / SMALL CONCESSION
They give me something that costs them very little.
In exchange, they ask for something valuable to me.
The question isn’t:
“What is this worth to me?”
It is:
“What is this worth to them?”
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LINKAGE
“If you want X, you need to give us Y.”
Sometimes legitimate.
Sometimes a pressure mechanism.
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GOOD COP / BAD COP
One person appears unreasonable.
The other appears reasonable.
The “reasonable” person becomes the person I want to deal with.
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HANDS TIED
“I would accept, but my boss won’t allow it.”
Maybe true.
Maybe not.
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ULTIMATUM
“Take it or leave it.”
The question:
Can they actually walk away?
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CHERRY ON THE CAKE
The main agreement appears finished.
Then:
“One last little thing…”
The timing is the tactic.
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CONNECTED IDEAS
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REMEMBER
Recognize the move before responding to the move.
