How to negotiate after a staggering defeat

CONNECTING

There’s an adage in diplomacy circles: If you’re not at the table, you’re on the menu. Since they lost control of the White House and both houses of Congress, it’s easy to imagine that Democrats feel that they don’t have a seat at the table after the U.S. elections. And if that’s true, everything they hold dear and every policy they care about could be a mere presidential oath away from being sacrificed at the altar of President-elect Donald Trump’s vision for America.

I have a different perspective. In my work with businesses and governments around the world and in my recent book, “Negotiating the Impossible,” I focus on how to negotiate effectively when things seem hopeless. From my experience, here are five principles that are broadly applicable to difficult negotiations.

— KNOW YOUR WEAKNESSES, BUT FOCUS ON THEIRS: It’s important to know where you’re vulnerable, but you shouldn’t lose sight of the fact that there are limits to the other side’s power as well and that they might have interests or objectives for which they need you.

— SHAPE THE NARRATIVE: It is perfectly OK for different parties to prefer different narratives — but which narrative you promote and which comes to pervade the social consciousness will have consequences for your ability to attract followers to your cause in the future and to forge winning coalitions. Choose and shape your own narrative.

— IF YOU CAN CREATE VALUE, YOU HAVE LEVERAGE: Most people think about power in terms of which side has deeper pockets, greater muscle, stronger allies and more resources. But often the greatest source of leverage in negotiation is your ability to create value for the other side. If they have interests you can address or needs you can fulfill, you have leverage.

— PICK YOUR BATTLES: If you treat every fight as the defining battle, you will surely lose the war. But before you can pick your battles, you have to get your house in order: Figure out your priorities and clarify an action plan around them.

— “THEY WIN” DOES NOT EQUAL “YOU LOSE”: The battle for electoral votes is a zero-sum game, but governing is not. Despite differences on many dimensions, there are still numerous issues on which Democrats agree with the legislative agenda Trump has articulated. If Democrats define success too narrowly as “stop Trump from achieving his objectives,” they will miss opportunities for achieving their own objectives.

This advice applies to Democrats for the simple reason that they are the ones on the ropes after this election. But it is advice that should help anyone going into a negotiation from a compromised position. If all parties can come to the table with a willingness to work with each other when possible and to respect each other when not, you can keep building even after great setbacks.