If you are familiar with Simon Sinek’s work, you’ll know he is best known for a viral TED talk and a book called “Start with Why”.
Sinek’s basic premise is that great leaders and organisations inspire people by communicating from the inside out. Instead of starting with WHAT they do and HOW they do it, great leaders and organisations:
- start with WHY – their purpose or belief
- move to the HOW – the actions needed to achieve the WHY (or maybe the special sauce that sets them apart)
- and then to the WHAT – what they actually do or want done
It’s a simple and effective model to help leaders inspire others to act.
It strikes me that Sinek’s model could be applied just as easily to consensus building and negotiation.
In a negotiation, your position is what you say you want (price, scope, terms etc) and your interests are why you want them (the underlying needs or fears that motivate you). Too often we focus on positions without exploring interests.
When you do explore interests, you usually find that there are numerous ways for each party’s interests to be achieved beyond their initial positions.
If you are working with a team to build consensus, or you are negotiating agreements, start with WHY:
- WHY do you want it
- WHY do they want it
- HOW could it be achieved
- HOW could you work together to get there
- WHAT is the best solution
- WHAT will you do next