WIN AS MUCH AS YOU CAN Debriefing Notes

INTRODUCTION: SHOWand DISCUSS RULES

NOW: PLAY THE GAME (about 20-25 minutes)

WHO WON?

  • Individualwith highest score: capitalist

Q: to person with highest score: How did you do it...?

  • Lie, cheat or play existing rules to maximum?

Q: How'd you get them to throw Ys?

Q: Other members of the group: do you agree? (No, he cheated!)

NOTE: different perspectives on what happened

  • Group with highest score: communitarian
  • Closest bunching: egalitarian

Q: What value? best relationship; least bruised feelings

Q: How did you do this? cooperation;trust forego maximum individual gain

  • Individual with greatest spread: crusher. Like football coach going up in standings

Q: How was the highest scoring individual in each four person group a winner? Why?

  • Did best possible with thepeople you were playing with
  • Negotiation results depends on one's partner. Like dancing with the stars—can’t win if your partner is a klutz
  • Need to understand the partner to negotiate well

Q: person with the lowest score in each group: How did lowest scorers "win"?

  • Only way to do this: throw Ys under provocation when others throw Xs
  • Maintained personal ethical commitment
  • Built trust for future—learned about others

Q: You are part of a group at the law firm…not clear who will get the credit, but you have to work together. Who would you want on your team? Highest scorers or low ones?

SLIDE : WHAT DOES “YOU” MEAN?

Q: What does "winning" mean to you?

  • Silly little game—no substance
  • But see different interpretations of what it means to win, and when you are competing
  • In every negotiation, you must decide, explicitly or implicitly, what you or your client’s goal is to negotiate effectively

Q: How would the typical litigation client define winning?

Q: How would a typical client negotiating a multi-year joint venture define it?

NOTE: First task of a negotiator is to:

  • Plan
  • Understand rules of the process you're in
  • Set goals: primary, secondary, tertiary: the most in this negotiation? A series of negotiations? for both sides, or just you? what tradeoffs will you tolerate to obtain goals?
  • Can't have it all: many negotiators never decide this.

MAXIMUM POINTS (Maybe ignore this point)

Q: What is maximum number of points possible?

  • 100 for the group, 25 per player

Q: How cana group get the 100 maximum?

  • Cooperate for entire game – all throw Ys, all the time
  • Only few per cent of players ever reach 100, typically if they have played it before
  • Lots of negative scores, often for an entire group

ROUND ONE:Can't talk/communicate; reasons to throw either an X or a Y.

Q: How many threw an X in the very first round? Show of hands…

Q: That’s a logical choice. Did anyone have a strategy for throwing an X?Why?

  • X pays best and most often

PPT: PAYOFF SCHEDULE

  • I might like to throw a Y, but I have to defend against others throwing Xs

Q: But if everyone throws X then everyone loses; so shouldn't you assume thateveryonewill throw a Y?

  • Someone will be crafty, and throw X anyway
  • Some play at random: don't understand rules, or dumb

So what's the smart move: Throw an X, b/c someone will. But then someone did throw an X: you. A protective strategy can become a self-fulfilling prophecy

Y STRATEGIES: COOPERATION

Q: How manythrew a Y in round one?Also a logical strategy. why?

  • Community ideal: best for everyone
  • Send a signal: we should cooperate

Q: Who did it to communicate nonverbally? what were you intending to say?

Did you expect everyone to throw Ys?

Did anyone in your group pick up your pattern? get converts?

Q: Ask someone who threw a Y but got X(s) from someone else in the first round: Did you continue to throw Ys? How long? Two rounds? Three? Was there a point when you gave up?

Q: In real life, how do you deal with someone who throws Xs?do you ever "throw Ys" despite the Xs? How long do you persist?

  • Most people tire soon of unreciprocated cooperative behavior; throw Xs back

Q: Is there any less ethical reason to throw a Y in early rounds?

  • Set others up for a defection later, in a bonus round
  • So maybe you can't even trust a Y thrower!

Q: You have dealt with people who act cooperative but aren't: what should you do in response?

  • Throw Xs—but then you're back to X behavior

Q: How many groups reached a 4-X result in one or more rounds?

  • Show powerpoints on claiming/cooperation
  • Competition is the most virulent virus
  • Claiming tends to drive out cooperation
  • Fundamental question for every bargainer: cooperate or compete?

Q: But how many people threw nothing but Xs—10 Xs, one round after another? How many threw nothing but Ys?

  • Usually there is no one who throws nothing but Xs or Ys. If there is, congratulate the Y throwers, but note that they might not if there were real stakes.
  • Most of us have limited ability to cooperate – we all throw both Xs and Ys, depending on the situation, and eventually respond to Xs with an X.
  • So the real challenge is how to balance our Xs and Ys? How to minimize Xs in our bargaining, but also choose right tactic at right time?

ASK STUDENTS TO GO BACK INTO THEIR GROUP OF FOUR AND TALK

QWhat is an example of an X you’ve seen or encountered in real life, at work or in personal life? An example ofa Y from real life? Each group come up with one.

  • Let them talk for a few minutes.
  • Get examples
  • Give examples from the handout of realXs and Ys from lawyers.

Round Five: Framing PPT

Q:Now you are in round 5. You can talk. in litigation, this often does not happenWhat did you talk about?

Q: Any requests for give backs? bringing someone up to the other players by letting them throw an X?

Q: Any agreements? What were they?

Q: Were they kept? Did they last beyond round 5?

Q: What effect of breaking an agreement?

  • Trust is like Humpty Dumpty
  • Worse to break an agreement than to do the same thing with no agreement at all

Q: Anyone feel they were tricked? What did that feel like? How do people who feel burned, or hopelessly behind, in a negotiation behave? What dangers to doing this?

  • Throw big Xs: takes you down with them
  • Retaliate at end of game
  • As a negotiator, you have a practical interest, especially if there is a future relationship: other side should feel it’s done OK too

COMMUNICATION

Q: I barred you from speaking. Is there any other way to communicate, without language and other than by throwing Ys or Xs?

  • Where were you looking before round one or two?
  • Anyone smile? shake head? wink? body movement?
  • If you heard groans, exclamations, jokes, note that they were communications, and ask what a particular grunt, etc., means

Q: Were you looking for anything, to indicate how others would behave? Did you do anything yourself?

PPT: Signals

  • We do communicate without words; use signals
  • Information is power
  • Deception is part of many negotiations
  • You must gather information with every pore of your body

TRUST / REPUTATION

In the long run, voracious claiming gives bad results. So have to cooperate. How to maximize cooperation over the long run: get people to throw Ys consistently?Need to believe that other side will throw a Y too, and that X behavior won't pay off.

Q:Big interest in trust: what did people do to preserve / maintain trust?

Q: Problems with clarity or enforcement?

Q: Any effort to rely on relationship or reputation? How do you do this in real life?

  • Cite/build up your own reputation or your links with the other side
  • Cite your organization's reputation? Cite the other side’s reputation?
  • Get references

Q: Other ways to make agreements stick? Any compliance mechanisms?

  • Promises?
  • Penalties? Threats?

Q: What would happen if we ran an 11th round? As a 10x bonus round?

  • Have your partners earned your trust as future negotiating partners?
  • Compliance adequate?

PPTs: Trust and relationships

PPTs: How to avoid Xs and Ys?

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