Just say Yes, And

How To Make MORE Value – By Working Together

My negotiation class is not a sit in the back and surf the web class.  This is a-learn-by doing class.  Perhaps the biggest negotiation lesson to be learned is how to work in a group.  

When I set groups out into Harvard Sq to create value by trading a paper clip for whatever they could get…we learned from their presentations afterwards that the groups who didn’t create significant dollar value had had a lot of conflict. 

They landed in conflict because they never came together from the beginning – they didn’t spend any time together at the start of the exercise to develop a good plan. Then each person worked on their own rather than meeting to discuss or do something with the others. They relied on their own judgment to determine their individual next steps. 

If they had been able to work well together, you wonder what value these groups could have created.

 I’m going to borrow a lesson from my friend Anjali Bal who regularly takes her students  to visit Fenway Park to illustrate this with a sports metaphor.  

The abysmal Red Sox in June are now red hot.  A Boston Globe article tries to unpack the mysterious (shocking? incredible?) improvement.  Aroldis Chapman, the Sox all-Star pitcher says, “The players are happy.  Everybody is enjoying the game, and we’re playing together.  The atmosphere is good.”  To which reporter Peter Abraham asks, “The menacing closer is crediting good vibes and togetherness?”  

Is that all it takes?  

I’m not saying teams that don’t get along can’t create value.  In fact – back to baseball for a moment – the Oakland As in the 1970s hated each other but still won the World Series.  It was so bad that they would show up to practice but wouldn’t say one word to each other.  (And would regularly throw punches at each other!) 

In general, the whole point of having a team is to produce a better outcome.  The adage ‘2 heads are better than 1’ implies that having someone other than yourself is a good thing.  In theory, teamwork means the sum of 1+1 > 2.  

Also in life – moving from baseball to soccer, the Spanish team demonstrated how great having good teamwork can be in their World Cup match against Argentina.  The guy ‘off the bench’ was the one to score the winning goal.  Training and coordinating your individual skills across your team – along with some good vibes – is the best way to make the most value.  Just ask Spain.