Rss Feed https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/ Mon, 16 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Mon, 16 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Απόστολος Κορλός Ο αγενής διαπραγματευτής δεν σε μισεί. Σε δοκιμάζει. Τι κρύβεται πίσω από αυτή τη συμπεριφορά — και πώς αντιδράς αποτελεσματικά. https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/ο-αγενησ-συνομιλητησ-κακοι-τροποι-η-τακτικη/ Mon, 16 Mar 2026 08:20:55 GMT 6506 Απόστολος Κορλός Σήμερα το A.I. έχει μπει για τα καλά στις ζωές μας. Οι εφαρμογές του στην καθημερινότητα, αυξάνονται με ιλιγγιώδεις ρυθμούς. Οι σκεπτικισμοί έχουν γιγαντωθεί. «Το A.I. θα μειώσει ή ακόμη θα καταργήσει την αναγκαιότητα ύπαρξης του δικού μου επαγγέλματος»; είναι προβληματισμοί που ακούγονται όλο και συχνότερα. Τι συμβαίνει με τις διαπραγματεύσεις; https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2025/διαπραγματευσεισ-και-a-i/ Thu, 12 Jun 2025 14:27:33 GMT 6399 Yannis Dimarakis One of the many lessons I have learned as a negotiator, is that one needs to understand the “environment”, in order to survive or even more so, thrive in it. In times of change, such as the current ones, it is important to maintain perspective. https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2025/europe-needs-to-step-up-50-years-since-the-helsinki-accords-and-the-news-are-not-good/ Mon, 12 May 2025 21:23:53 GMT 6379 Yannis Dimarakis Donald Trump wrote “The Art of the Deal”. Allegedly he is not the actual author, but this is irrelevant. What is relevant, is that the book is illustrative of Trump’s approach towards bilateral relationships and negotiations. https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2025/the-art-of-tariffs-seen-from-a-negotiator-s-viewpoint/ Fri, 11 Apr 2025 03:17:22 GMT 6365 Απόστολος Κορλός Πριν από αρκετά χρόνια, βρισκόμουν σε μια έκθεση πωλήσεων αυτοκινήτων. Είχε φτάσει η ώρα να αντικαταστήσω το μικρό αυτοκίνητο που με συντρόφευε 12 – σχεδόν – χρόνια με κάτι πιο μοντέρνο και μεγάλο. Οι οικογένεια είχε μεγαλώσει και οι ανάγκες είχαν μεταβληθεί https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2024/άκου-περισσότερο-μίλα-λιγότερο-κέρδισε-συχνότερα/ Mon, 25 Nov 2024 06:01:59 GMT 6258 Απόστολος Κορλός Ο μαραθώνιος, όπως και οποιοδήποτε άλλο απαιτητικό αγώνισμα προϋποθέτει σοβαρή και πολύμηνη προετοιμασία καθώς και βοήθεια από ειδικούς. Ας δούμε μερικές από τις πιο πετυχημένες συμβουλές για να τερματίσει κάποιος σε ένα μαραθώνιο και πως οι συμβουλές αυτές μπορούν να βοηθήσουν ένα διαπραγματευτή στο έργο του. https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2024/από-την-προετοιμασία-στη-νίκη-μαθήματα-μαραθωνίου-για-αποτελεσματικούς-διαπραγματευτές/ Mon, 04 Nov 2024 04:10:06 GMT 6232 Yannis Dimarakis I am Greek, so I cannot claim objectivity on the subject matter. But it is hard to refrain from pointing out a few points of interest, from a negotiator’s viewpoint. https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2023/pms-fighting-over-marbles/ Fri, 01 Dec 2023 18:24:34 GMT 6070 Yannis Dimarakis Τις προάλλες ήμουν σε ένα αεροδρόμιο αναμένοντας να επιβιβαστώ σε μία πτήση. Κατά την παραμονή μου έγινα ακούσιος ωτακουστής μίας συζήτησης μεταξύ ενός ζευγαριού. Το θέμα της συζήτησης είναι αδιάφορο για αυτό το άρθρο. Αυτό όμως που έχει ιδιαίτερο ενδιαφέρον είναι μία αποστροφή του λόγου ενός εκ των συνομιλητών: «…στη ζωή όλα λύνονται με μία καλή διαπραγμάτευση…». https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2023/στη-ζωη-δεν-λυνονται-ολα-με-μια-διαπραγματευση/ Thu, 11 May 2023 17:20:20 GMT 5893 Απόστολος Κορλός Όσοι ολοκληρώνουν το βασικό εκπαιδευτικό πρόγραμμα της Scotwork, αποκτούν πρόσβαση σε μια υπηρεσία help desk. Μπορούν, για ένα ημερολογιακό έτος να επικοινωνούν, δωρεάν, όσες φορές επιθυμούν, με έναν από τους ειδικούς της Scotwork και να συζητούν μαζί τους ένα διαπραγματευτικό θέμα που τους απασχολεί. Η ηρωίδα της ιστορία μας, εκμεταλλεύτηκε αυτή την υπηρεσία. Ολοκλήρωσε το πρόγραμμα και λίγους μήνες μετά, βρέθηκε επικεφαλής της διαπραγμάτευσης για την εξαγορά μιας ανταγωνιστικής επιχείρησης. https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/διαπραγματευση-και-οχι-παζαρι/ Fri, 28 Apr 2023 18:24:33 GMT 5879 Απόστολος Κορλός Σε μια μεγάλη παραδοσιακή επιχείρηση, ο Διευθύνων Σύμβουλος, που ανέλαβε πρόσφατα τα καθήκοντά του, διαπίστωσε ότι, κατά τις συναντήσεις του με τους διευθυντές διάφορων τμημάτων, αυτοί προσέρχονταν μόνοι τους, απέφευγαν να συνοδεύονται από συνεργάτες τους και προτιμούσαν να τον βλέπουν κατ’ ιδίαν. https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2023/μικρά-αθώα-ψέματα/ Thu, 23 Feb 2023 03:41:48 GMT 5782 The Scotwork Team Η σιωπή είναι χρυσός, υποστηρίζουν πολλοί και οφείλω να ομολογήσω ότι συμμερίζομαι και εγώ την ίδια άποψη. Η σιωπή έχει πάντα κάποια σημασία και αυτό είναι κάτι που επίσης πιστεύω ακράδαντα. Αυτό όμως που δεν είχα συνειδητοποιήσει ποτέ, μέχρι να εμφανιστεί στην οθόνη μου το εξαιρετικά ενδιαφέρον άρθρο του Director της Scotwork, David Bannister «The Sound of Silence», είναι ότι η σιωπή αποτελεί εκτός των άλλων, διαπραγματευτική τακτική και μάλιστα πολύ αποτελεσματική και ισχυρή, όταν εφαρμόζεται μεθοδικά και ελεγχόμενα. https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2023/η-σιωπή-ως-διαπραγματευτική-τακτική/ Wed, 01 Feb 2023 17:58:26 GMT 5756 Γιάννης Δημαράκης Από την καθιέρωση του Ευρώ και ύστερα, ζήσαμε χρόνια χαμηλού πληθωρισμού. Ο συναλλακτικός κύκλος των επιχειρήσεων (τιμές, χρόνοι πίστωσης, λοιποί όροι συνεργασίας κτλ.) ήταν σε μεγάλο βαθμό σταθερός και δεν υπήρχε έντονη ή συχνή ανάγκη προσαρμογής του. Το πληθωριστικό κύμα που χτύπησε την παγκόσμια οικονομία τη χρονιά που έφυγε, έχει επαναφέρει στο προσκήνιο, προκλήσεις που για πολλά στελέχη είναι καινοφανείς. Δεν υπάρχει κλάδος που να μην έχει επηρεαστεί από το κύμα ανατιμήσεων πρώτων υλών και τελικών προϊόντων. https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2023/νέο-κύμα-ανατιμήσεων-5-πρακτικές-συμβουλές-για-στελέχη/ Tue, 17 Jan 2023 05:08:43 GMT 5742 Yannis Dimarakis Πριν λίγο τελείωσε η παγκόσμια σύνοδος για το κλίμα στο Sharm el-Sheikh της Αιγύπτου η περίφημη (COP27). Τα αποτελέσματα είναι άκρως απογοητευτικά, αφού οι σύνεδροι απέτυχαν να φτάσουν σε μία κοινά αποδεκτή συμφωνία. Όλοι όσοι είμαστε έξω από αυτή τη διαδικασία (δηλαδή η συντριπτική πλειοψηφία του πληθυσμού), αναρωτιόμαστε πώς γίνεται να μη υπάρχει μία συμφωνία για την αντιμετώπιση του μεγαλύτερου κινδύνου που διατρέχει η ανθρωπότητα. Όμως, μία ψύχραιμη ματιά στα δεδομένα, εξηγεί αυτή την αποτυχία συμφωνίας, η οποία δεν θα έπρεπε να μας εκπλήσσει. https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2022/κλιματική-κρίση-μα-γιατί-δεν-μπορούν-επιτέλους-να-τα-βρουν/ Thu, 24 Nov 2022 08:57:17 GMT 5720 Απόστολος Κορλός The European Basketball Championship came to an end on the 18th of September. The tournament was characterised by the high quality of players and teams alike. For a Greek like me, the experience of this important (at least for many European countries) sports event, was a bitter one https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2022/the-balance-of-power-trap/ Wed, 05 Oct 2022 09:54:49 GMT 5664 Απόστολος Κορλός Χθες χτύπησε το τηλέφωνο. Στην άλλη άκρη της γραμμής μακρινή συγγενής. Έχουμε καιρό να μιλήσουμε. Λέμε τα νέα μας και μετά από μερικές ανταλλαγές τυπικοτήτων μου εξηγεί το λόγο που με κάλεσε. «Θέλω να χρησιμοποιήσεις τους γνωστούς σου στη ΔΕΗ» μου αναφέρει. Και μου εξηγεί το πρόβλημά της. Μοιάζει ανήσυχη, καθώς αντιμετωπίζει πιθανότητα καταγγελίας από δύστροπο ενοικιαστή της, ο οποίος όπως παραδέχεται – χαμηλόφωνα – έχει δίκιο… Υπόσχομαι να βοηθήσω και συμφωνούμε να μιλήσουμε σε μερικές μέρες, όταν έχω νέα. Πράγματι, σε μερικές μέρες την καλώ. Σηκώνει το τηλέφωνο, όλο αγωνία. «Ελπίζω να έχεις καλά νέα» μου λέει με ανυπομονησία. https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2022/με-ακούς-που-σου-μιλάω/ Mon, 22 Aug 2022 05:46:32 GMT 5627 Yannis Dimarakis In my several years of work as a negotiation consultant, I have finally come to realize what every layman already knows. A lose – lose outcome is problematic from any viewpoint one wishes to take. Obviously, this is the situation in the Russia – Ukraine conflict. There is not much debate about that. However, there is another, more disturbing angle that escapes the attention of most of us, sitting in the comfort of our (usually) warm homes. https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2022/can-someone-call-a-negotiator-asap-please-why-putin-s-war-is-even-more-dangerous-than-most-people-think/ Wed, 23 Mar 2022 06:36:30 GMT 5393 Yannis Dimarakis As most of you, I find myself discussing every day the situation in Ukraine. My interlocutors’ attitudes range from indifference to outright fear. Thankfully only few people subscribe to either of these extremes. Most fall in between. So, I want to share with you some thoughts on the subject matter. https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2022/a-negotiator-s-thoughts-on-ukraine/ Tue, 01 Mar 2022 07:55:11 GMT 5349 Alan Smith One of the most oft questions I get asked about negotiating is what do I do if the other side doesn’t appear interested in negotiating with me? I want to talk or deal with them, but all I get is at worst radio silence and at best avoidance, they dance around and redirect me into areas they wish to discuss. https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2022/spotify-the-opportunity/ Fri, 04 Feb 2022 08:04:10 GMT 5315 Alan Smith The British Ambassador was being interviewed by the main TV channel in his host country about several live issues concerning the challenges that were being faced by the nation and how Britain as a friendly neighbour saw them. After all, as a country famous for diplomacy, democracy and fair play his view was both sage and valued. https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2021/what-do-you-want-for-christmas/ Sat, 18 Dec 2021 07:24:44 GMT 5276 Andy Archibald Last week, I read a quote describing Scotland as a photographer's paradise. I could not agree more. I love the west coast in particular, not only for its beautiful scenery but seemingly endless experiences too. https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2021/say-what-you-want/ Thu, 02 Dec 2021 08:26:16 GMT 5262 David Bannister One of the opportunities to negotiate which we all have from time to time is when we choose to make a complaint. The simple advice, if you are making the complaint, is that you should say what would put it right and if you are receiving the complaint, ask the complainant what you can do to take the issue away for them. https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2021/meat-customer-services-a-tale-of-missed-opportunity/ Fri, 26 Nov 2021 08:24:00 GMT 5255 Ellis Croft Today, there is plenty of coverage of Amazon’s decision to cease taking payment from UK-issued Visa credit cards as of January 19th 2022. According to Amazon, this is a response to Visa UK’s decision to increase its transaction fees (one of the freedoms they enjoy as a result of Brexit). On the face of it, those currently shopping at Amazon with their UK-issued Visa credit card will have two months or so to find an alternative method of payment if they want to continue to use the platform in the new year. https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2021/from-a-to-v/ Thu, 25 Nov 2021 11:55:29 GMT 5248 Γιάννης Δημαράκης Δομή και τεχνικές των διαπραγματεύσεων από τον Γιάννη Δημαράκη, Managing Partner Scotwork Hellas https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2019/φάρμακο-παράγοντες-που-εξασφαλίζουν-την-ομαλή-και-παραγωγική-εξέλιξη-της-διαπραγμάτευσης-τιμών/ Wed, 21 Jul 2021 13:01:37 GMT 3701 Γιάννης Δημαράκης Διαβάστε αναλυτικότερα την επίκαιρη συνέντευξη του Γιάννη Δημαράκη, Managing Partner, Scotwork Hellas στον δημοσιογράφο Γιώργο Σακκά (Ναυτεμπορική). Μπορεί η επιτροπή διαπραγμάτευσης να έχει «παγώσει» τις δραστηριότητες της αυτή την περίοδο, ενώ βρισκόμαστε εν αναμονή εξελίξεων από την νέα Κυβέρνηση, ωστόσο το σύνολο σχεδόν των φαρμακευτικών εταιρειών στο άμεσο μέλλον θα «αναγκαστεί» να συνδιαλλαγεί μαζί της, προκειμένου να λάβει τιμές για τα σκευάσματά της και δη τα νέας κυκλοφορίας. Ο κ. Γιάννης Δημαράκης, εκπρόσωπος της πολυεθνικής Scotwork, της μεγαλύτερης εταιρείας που παρέχει συμβουλές και υπηρεσίες κατάρτισης γύρω από το αντικείμενο αυτό σε στελέχη μεγάλων οργανισμών, καταγράφει τα σημεία-κλειδιά μιας διαπραγμάτευσης. https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2019/οι-εταιρείες-δίνουν-γνώση-στη-διαπραγματευτική-διαδικασία/ Wed, 21 Jul 2021 13:02:07 GMT 3700 Alan Smith Μία από τις ερωτήσεις που μας κάνουν συχνά είναι: "Πώς μπορώ να διαπραγματευτώ όταν η άλλη πλευρά είναι επιθετική, αγενής ή απλά δύσκολη;"  Έχουμε 4 βασικές συμβουλές που θα σας βοηθήσουν όταν τα πράγματα δυσκολέψουν. https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2017/όταν-έχεις-να-κάνεις-με-δύσκολους-ανθρώπους/ Wed, 21 Jul 2021 12:58:42 GMT 3698 Alan Smith It was in 1996 that Deep Blue, an IBM chess computer first beat the best human chess player, Garry Kasparov, becoming the first computer system to defeat a reigning world champion in a match under standard chess tournament time controls. Kasparov accused IBM of cheating and demanded a rematch. IBM refused and retired Deep Blue... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2017/terminated/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:38:06 GMT 3697 Alan Smith It has been an interesting few weeks for Theresa May. A bit of a Chinese curse that, to always live in interesting times. Firstly, she has had to deal with the new US president, where I find it hard to believe that Trump holds any attraction to her, no matter how opposite he is. Then there was the potential ban on Sir Mo Farah travelling to the US, averted by of all people, ex rival Boris Johnson. https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2017/not-telling/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:38:06 GMT 3695 Stephen White There has been much talk over the last few weeks about what might happen if, at the end of 2 years of negotiation with the EU after Article 50 is triggered, no deal is agreed. ‘Cliff edge’ refers to this doomsday situation where the UK is out of Europe and not in anything except trouble. Hence the focus on transitional arrangements which Mrs May said she didn’t/did want within the same paragraph of her speech last week – see the previous Scotwork blog for this and other peculiarities in that speech. https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2017/cliff-edge/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:38:05 GMT 3693 Stephen White "That is why I have said before — and will continue to say — that every stray word and every hyped-up media report is going to make it harder for us to get the right deal for Britain." Theresa May has long repeated the mantra that she is not going to reveal the details of Britain’s Brexit negotiating tactics, because that would be poor negotiating practice. Yet in her speech on Tuesday she did just that. Here are some verbatim extracts – what deductions could you make from the highlighted words if you were a European bureaucrat charged with analysing Britain’s negotiating position... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2017/mays-brexit-speech/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:38:05 GMT 3691 Alan Smith I was thinking, as one is tended to do, over the January period, of any goals I could do with having as we waltz into 2017. Eat well, exercise regularly, spend more time on my relationships are my clear life goals. Frankly ones that we all probably share. But from a negotiation perspective, which after all is what I teach and consult in for a living, what three things would help people less focused on this area than I, make a distinct and significant improvement in their negotiation outcomes... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2017/three-things-to-do-in-2017/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:38:05 GMT 3690 Stephen White Like the conference speaker who has the misfortune to be given the slot immediately after a brilliant raconteur, 2017 is unlikely to be a ‘wow’ year, following on as it does from a humdinger 2016. Unlikely, but not impossible, and it certainly got off to a great start with the unexpected resignation of the UK’s Permanent Representative to the EU Sir Ivan Rogers, an event which would probably have been called PRexit if it wasn’t so easy to mishear. Not only did he surprise everyone with his impeccable timing - the first Brexit bombshell of the year – but in his swan song note to colleagues he laid into the Government for its appalling state of Brexit preparation... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2017/the-power-of-disruptive-behaviour/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:38:04 GMT 3688 Alan Smith Well it’s nearly here. The time of year when even the hardest nosed of commercial creatures switch off for the season. At Scotwork we are no different. We are putting away our planning tools, our diagnostic apps, our value creation engines and negotiation logs. https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2016/a-very-merry-christmas/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:37:40 GMT 3686 Robin Copland You know, it’s not all sweetness and light in Lapland. People think (and to be fair, why shouldn’t they?), that all the work takes place on 24th December. Santa gets on his sledge and travels the world distributing largesse hither and thither. No one ever asks though what happens for the rest of the year. What – do they think that this mammoth distribution happens by magic? Well, I’ll admit that there is a bit of the magical and mystical about the whole operation; the reindeer-drawn sledge, for example, is a bit of a mystery, but for the rest – well, we’re talking slickness and speed and management of change and… But I’m ahead of myself... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2016/early-christmas-message/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:37:40 GMT 3684 Robin Copland People think of negotiating as “that thing you do when you’re buying a car” (you’re probably haggling), or “that time you took a particularly sinuous series of bends at speed without driving over the cliff edge” (you were probably driving). At Scotwork, we are of the view that negotiating is that thing you do when something happens to make the status quo no longer tenable; in other words, external factors disrupt an ongoing relationship to the extent that contracts and relationships need to be re-aligned... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2016/brexit-its-not-all-bad-news/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:37:38 GMT 3682 Stephen White In our contemporary world of hyper-uncertainty, where we are being constantly surprised (and often upset) by unexpected outcomes, data would appear to be our friend. The more information we collect and interpret, the better we can analyse the past and the more certain we can be of the future. Data reduces uncertainty. Not. https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2016/the-fallacy-of-data/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:37:38 GMT 3680 Alan Smith Two questions: When negotiating, do you want the other side to act reasonably? And, Is it a good strategy to be reasonable when negotiating? Most people will say yes to the first question. It would be crazy not to. The second however creates a bit more of a dilemma. We are sometimes tempted to go high or low, pad and exaggerate what we really anticipate being able to achieve. Because that is what we should do right?... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2016/play-nice/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:37:37 GMT 3678 Alan Smith I am a big fan of Bob Dylan. Well his music anyway. Other people, not quite so much. A member of the Swedish Academy that recently offered Mr Dylan the Noble Prize has accused Bob of being both rude and arrogant. Apparently Bob had refused to return phone calls or even acknowledge the offer and spurned the academy rather as one would spurn a rabid dog! As the Daily Mail reported, to accuse Bob Dylan of being rude is like attacking Humpty Dumpty for being an egg. He is legendary for his ambivalence to fans. He turns his back on them and grunts between songs in his live shows on stage. In person he is no better... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2016/like-no-one-is-watching/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:37:37 GMT 3677 Stephen White I predict a spike in the birth-rate at the beginning of August 2017 because thousands of people, in the US and around the world, were making babies last night. There is much anecdotal evidence that after a trauma people take solace with each other. How many couples will have gone to bed last night whispering to each other ‘WTF (Will Trump Flourish?)’ before rolling over and occupying themselves with other things? https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2016/making-babies-called-donald/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:37:36 GMT 3676 Robin Copland Complicated negotiations often involve different meetings, different personnel, different issues and, in the case of the upcoming Brexit negotiations, different countries! The key word in this kind of negotiation is alignment and that involves a number of different factors and considerations. We can learn from the insect world; think bees! Perhaps first and foremost, there needs to be a central “go-to” point where all the information and meeting notes are collated and stored. It is vital to have a central hive of information that teams preparing for a new round of negotiation can reference. The old phrase, “singing off the same hymn sheet” has a certain resonance in this regard. The workers need a point of reference... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2016/busy-as-brexiteer-bees/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:37:36 GMT 3675 Alan Smith What do Joni Mitchell and Boris Johnston have in common? Well very little I suspect, but they do both share an interesting way of looking at issues before finally making up their minds. “Both Sides Now” is one of Joni Mitchells most famous songs and appeared on her 1969 Album, Clouds. She says that she has investigated life, love and clouds from both sides, the inspiration being that she was on a transatlantic flight and looked down on the clouds rather than the more customary up. Boris Johnson was quoted in the press this weekend of having a similar way of making up his mind when considering his view of whether to support Britain’s In or Out vote over the now decided Brexit. https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2016/i-look-at-brexit-from-both-sides-now/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:37:36 GMT 3674 Robin Copland This isn’t going to be popular; to write it – even to think it - sticks in my throat as it offends against my innate sense of fair play and good will to all people, but there really are times when I want to take our elected representatives to one side and slap them about the face. They pontificate and they grandstand; they puff themselves up into rice krispies of righteous indignation; they adopt their “holier than thou” positions; they occasionally demonstrate a frightening lack of common sense and commercial nous and, at the same time, they would have us weaken our position in future negotiations. https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2016/when-are-eu-citizens-bargaining-chips/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:37:36 GMT 3673 Robin Copland What do Ben & Jerry's ice cream, Pot Noodles, Persil, Dove soap and Marmite have in common? They are all made by Unilever. What does Unilever and Tesco have in common? Dave Lewis, Tesco’s current boss, spent most of his career at Unilever before being poached by Tesco. What does all of this have to do with negotiating? Well, having been in a stand-off that threatened to damage both parties, heads were banged together on Thursday 13 October and a deal was done. We at Scotwork have constantly maintained that external factors are the most common cause of the kinds of conflicts that need negotiated solutions and what happened between Tesco and Unilever is a classic example. External factors do not come much bigger than Brexit... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2016/stand-off-in-the-isles/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:37:36 GMT 3672 Rafael Castellanos and Silvio Escudero A couple of weeks ago we were surprised by the results of the “referendum” in Colombia. Colombians faced this question: “Do you support the final agreement to end the conflict and build a long-lasting and stable peace?”. This question referred to the agreement reached by the Colombian Government and FARC (oldest guerrilla group in the country). It was an agreement to put an end to a 52-years conflict that brought to the country thousands of casualties and displaced people, not to mention the impact of this conflict in the social and economic development of the country for decades.... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2016/colombian-peace-process/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:37:36 GMT 3671 Yannis Dimarakis By November 9th, we will probably know the name of the next president of the USA. As the polls are not decisive, the statistical probability of Trump winning, is a real one. The negotiating profile of incumbent American presidents is instrumental to the behavior of “the country with the greatest influence on the planet”, on a range of issues, ranging from global challenges like climate change, to regional trouble spots like Syria, North Korea etc... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2016/donald-trump-s-negotiating-profile/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:37:36 GMT 3669 Alan Smith Tomorrow I have an appointment at the dentist. I can state with pretty much certainty and I admit comfort, that he knows something about teeth. Partly because the last time I went to see him with a damaged filling I left with it fixed, which frankly it would be difficult for someone without any knowledge of teeth to have resolved. Unless of course he had been very lucky that day and managed to wing it... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2016/the-infinite-negotiation-monkey-cage/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:37:35 GMT 3668 Stephen White News of Brangelina’s intention to divorce arriving on the same day as the critical acclaim given to the new Channel 4 drama National Treasure about celebrity sexual malpractice gave rise to a dinner table conversation about our capability to correctly read peoples’ underlying personality. We all recognise that in the febrile atmosphere inhabited by A, B, C, and Z listers the norms of society tend to be warped; they and we believe that they are more prone to accusations of bribery, corruption, to divorce and adultery. But in terms of the individual celebrity how good is our instinctive sniff-test. When we first hear bombshell news about a famous person is our reaction ‘Yes, not surprised, I knew that was a likely scenario’, or ‘No, I would never have thought them capable of that’... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2016/the-sniff-test/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:37:35 GMT 3667 Alan Smith “No” has emerged as an early contender for the least popular word in the English language, as Oxford Dictionaries ran a global search to find the least favourite English word. Starting what it hoped will be the largest global survey into people’s language gripes, the dictionary publisher was inviting English speakers all over the world to answer a range of language questions under the One Word Initiative starting with the quest to find the least popular English word. https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2016/no-no-no/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:37:35 GMT 3666 Annabel Shorter The subject of the Gender Pay gap entered the news again recently following a report from the Institute for Fiscal Studies. It found that although down from previous levels of 23% and 28% in 2003 and 1993 respectively, differentials remain stubbornly large at 18% and reach a frankly absurd level of 33% 12 years after the birth of a women’s first child. I was particularly interested in the fact that for women with higher levels of education, A-levels or graduates, the gap had remained as wide as 20 years ago. https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2016/the-gender-agenda/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:37:35 GMT 3665 Stephen White August 31st: The End of the Silly Season. The UK, against all the odds, voted to leave the EU. In the USA Donald Trump survived despite chronic foot-in-mouth disease. In Rio the Russian Olympic team appeared phoenix-like to take part despite a ban as punishment for institutionalised drug taking. In France a truck became a terror weapon and modest Muslim women were hassled on beaches as a result. In Germany 28,000 workers were laid off by VW because a dispute with a Bosnian seat cover supplier escalated and the supplier stopped delivering. And celebrity magazines around the world announced that the Duchess of Cambridge is pregnant... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2016/silly-season/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:37:35 GMT 3663 Alan Smith Team GB flew in to Heathrow on Tuesday morning this week, clanking with their scores of medals, on flight number BA2016, a British Airways 747 repainted with a golden nose and renamed “victoRIOus”. The best Olympic results for these Glorious Isles in over a century. To come second in the medals table is brilliant, but to be honest should not come as such a big surprise as it clearly has. I wonder if that gob-smacking surprise is just a function of typical British pessimism; we love an underdog, or understatement and one of the worst insults you can make in the UK is to tell someone they think a lot of themselves. Jason Kenny is such a dude precisely because he seems not to want to be one... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2016/success-as-a-priority/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:37:35 GMT 3662 Sam Macbeth A recent article in The Wall Street Journal headlines “Apple’s Hard-Charging Tactics Hurt TV Expansion - In search of its new big thing, possibly TV, Apple has alienated cable providers and networks with an assertive negotiating style; ‘time is on my side’" they are saying Apparently, they’ve been in discussions with various potential media partners since 2009, with no end in sight. During this period, Apple’s demands have included things such as long term frozen monthly rate per viewer, access to selected premium channels, full ‘on demand’ seasons of hit shows, rights to a vast cloud based digital video recorder, and set top box Apple ID sign in. They haven’t quite asked for the kitchen sink yet. https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2016/a-grapple-for-apple/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:37:34 GMT 3661 Alan Smith My wife is a very reasonable woman. Or so she tells me. No, she actually is. We have been married for over 30 years and she has put up with me for a start. To be honest its not just me she is reasonable with. The kids always go to her for emotional support, (me if it’s cash or a lift), I rarely, if ever, see her anything other than calm and she runs a classroom as a primary school teacher with 18 excitable 7 year olds. You have to be big on inner calm... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2016/incompatible/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:37:34 GMT 3660 Robin Copland There is a big debate going on at the moment in the UK – and especially in Scotland about the renewal of the UK’s nuclear deterrent. Perhaps some background might explain where we are as things stand right now. The second generation of the UK’s nuclear armed, submarine-based deterrent is in mid-life and decisions have to be made now to replace the Trident fleet of four submarines. It is in the nature of the size of the UK’s fleet that these boats are replaced all at the one time (spread over three or four years, of course) rather than the rolling programme in the USA, for example. The debate comes to a head every twenty to twenty-five years and, as you can imagine, passions run high on both sides of what is, in essence, a binary discussion – you are either “for it” or you are “against it”. There are no half measures... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2016/nuclear-deterrent/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:37:34 GMT 3659 John McMillan Over the last 40 years I have observed more than 5,000 hours of negotiation in over 30 countries and that has taught me the about the good negotiating behaviour that causes negotiations to succeed. For the purpose of this blog I shall limit myself to the top five and see how many of these might be present in the UK’s attempt to extricate itself from its 43-year relationship with the European Union... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2016/5-pointers-to-a-negotiating-disaster/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:37:34 GMT 3658 Richard Savage I was rather intrigued by a restaurant in North London, which I heard about recently. Mostly because some friends of mine, who were recommending it, were particularly excited about the fact that it was ‘all you can eat’. Now I don’t know about you, but ‘all you can eat’ in my book reminds me of brightly lit windows promising more cholesterol and MSG than one thought possible or healthy. And indeed the preserve of worn out Leicester Square tourists and hungry students... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2016/sushi-mania/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:37:34 GMT 3657 Robin Copland You really couldn’t make this up. Prior to the recent Brexit referendum, there was a negotiation between David Cameron, the UK prime minister and Jean-Claude Juncker, the former Luxembourg prime minister and current commissioner of the European Union. Cameron, a very bright man indeed but with limited negotiating experience, went into bat against Juncker, a very bright man indeed but with limited negotiating experience. Their careers had been remarkably similar – early days as parliamentary aides, followed in Cameron’s case with a stint in the commercial world working for Carlton Communications, followed by election to their respective countries’ parliaments. Juncker studied law but had never practised. Neither had much, if any exposure to the cut and thrust of commercial negotiation. I sometimes wish that our politicians had more such experience, but there we are... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2016/you-couldnt-make-it-up/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:37:34 GMT 3655 Alan Smith The hunt for negotiators has begun on a Global scale. Offers of help from all over the place, New Zealand, Australia and no doubt every part of the Commonwealth and beyond to help the UK deal with the inevitable day to day transactional not to mention the framing and strategic negotiations that will result from the Brexit. Surely we are not that light on experience in highly complex, multi- partied negotiations that we have to import them from literally the other side of the world... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2016/made-for-sharing/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:37:33 GMT 3654 Stephen White ‘So what are you doing about Brexit’ demanded my 90-year-old Mum. ‘Why should I be doing anything about it?’ I asked. ‘Because every other sentence on the news channels since Friday morning has contained the word Negotiation’ she said. Point taken. Not only Teresa and Michael haggling about who should be the next Prime Minister, Tom Watson colluding with Angela Eagle to avoid being the next Leader of the Opposition, Nicola Sturgeon desperately searching for a negotiating partner in Brussels – anyone will do - but most importantly the UK Government-to-be negotiating the relationship between the UK and Europe with 27 other heads of state, once the exit process has been triggered. https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2016/as-smart-as-mr-bean/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:37:33 GMT 3653 David Bannister I am writing this blog a mere two days after the UK was shocked at the news that a young female member of Parliament was murdered in a street in her constituency where she was born and brought up. Jo Cox was, everyone agrees, a principled and much loved and respected MP who represented a culturally diverse constituency where people of all religions and none are united in the grief and respect they have shown for her. Among the many tributes paid to her in the short time since her death, one has stuck in my mind. Jo Cox was a campaigner and activist previously employed by Oxfam where she had travelled to and worked extensively in many of the world’s major areas of conflict. She was a fearless campaigner on refugee issues... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2016/disagreeing-with-grace/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:37:33 GMT 3652 Sebastian Bacewicz It’s common knowledge that being rude to people may not be the best way of achieving what you want. In fact, the effect of being rude will mostly achieve the very opposite: if you're rude to somebody, they're more than likely going to be rude right back to you, and certainly less likely to give you what you want. A resulting vicious circle of rudeness ensues, and a bad deal - or no deal at all – achieved in the end. New research conducted by the University of Florida suggests that an initial act of rudeness can cause a ripple effect where people who experienced rudeness are then more likely to be rude to other people, who then will be rude to others. In other words, rudeness can spread in a similar way to a virus... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2016/like-a-virus/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:37:33 GMT 3651 Alan Smith Been a very bad year for my heroes so far. The loss of David Bowie, Prince, Glenn Fry, Victoria Wood and now the sporting legend that was Muhammad Ali. Tragic. If you have not read the Fight by Norman Mailer, you should. The description of the legendary fight between Ali and George Foreman has to be one of the best books ever written about sport. Even for a non-fight-lover it is a brutal study of the pugilist’s skill. Mailer describes the dynamics of the battle in graphic detail comparing it to a chess match and to a piece of art. https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2016/muhammad-says-knock-you-out/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:37:33 GMT 3649 Sam Macbeth Firstly apologies to the the 1980’s pop group Madness for the title of this blog. The Sun newspaper reported last week that “David Cameron finally manages to get a good deal – after negotiating a second-hand Nissan Micra for Samantha”. Apparently he drove this off the forecourt from the car dealer in his local constituency in Witney, Oxfordshire – very different from the public office £200K Jaguar which he rides in for work... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2016/dave-likes-driving-in-sams-car/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:37:33 GMT 3648 Robin Copland I do not suppose that there is a perfect way of sacking someone. It is never nice and never easy – either for the manager doing the deed or indeed the victim. Neither, I suppose, is there is a perfect way of doing it badly, but if there is, then surely Manchester United plc has come pretty close in their handling of Louis van Gaal’s dismissal earlier this week. You could not have made it up as speculation mounted that Jose Mourinho, the self-styled “special one” was set to be named as van Gaal’s successor... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2016/youre-fired/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:37:32 GMT 3647 Alan Smith Walk out the door? Maybe not quite as easy as you may think. The challenge for anyone in a long term relationship, business or pleasure, and particularly one experiencing difficulty is: do I invest in trying to fix it or cut my losses? Look at the massive challenge surrounding the Brexit campaign... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2016/go-on-now-go/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:37:32 GMT 3646 Robin Copland The fathers of Scottish devolution came up with a system so complicated as to confuse even the most passionate observer and student of the political scene north of the border. There were three guiding principles • To preserve the best of the Westminster “first past the post” system, which provides a clear result and a named MP for a constituency • To ensure that those who voted for a party other than the winning party still had a chance or representation in the parliament (there is a second vote for list MPs in each constituency) • To make an overall majority government a rare occurrence – and it is this requirement that has caused the hideous complication! https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2016/scottish-jaw-jaw/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:37:32 GMT 3645 Stephen White Just about a year ago, as voting in the UK General Election came to an end, an exit poll predicted that the Conservative Party would win a 10 seat majority. This was so out of whack with the estimates made by all the opinion poll experts that Paddy Ashdown, a well-known and well respected Liberal Democrat politician promised on TV that if the exit poll prediction was right he would literally eat his hat. The prediction turned out to be correct... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2016/predictions/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:37:32 GMT 3644 Stephen White I am sitting by the hospital bedside of an elderly relative who fell last week and broke her hip. It is Tuesday, the first day of this week’s junior doctor’s strike. The ward is functioning normally as far as I can see; there is a normal complement of doctors on duty, but unusually there are also groups of more senior consultants who appear to be hunting in packs of 3 or 4, perhaps for safety. There was no picket line when I came into the hospital and it was as difficult to find a car parking space today as it has been all week which suggests that most outpatient appointments are proceeding as usual... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2016/plain-speaking/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:37:32 GMT 3643 Alan Smith When I tell people what I do for a living, lots of people are intrigued, often they don’t really get what it is. I like to tell them that negotiation is the art of getting more of what you want, that seems to intrigue them more. Hopefully that turns into a business opportunity, tart that I am. Many others are appalled and feel intense sympathy for those around me and particularly my family and friends. But all of them think how exhausting and time consuming it must be to be constantly looking to negotiate a better deal in every relationship all of the time... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2016/should-i-negotiate-everything/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:37:32 GMT 3642 Stephen White Confidence is one of the important attributes of a good negotiator. Many HR recruiters believe that this is an attribute they need to look for in those who will be conducting negotiations for the organisation (sales, marketing, procurement, Board level), so that testing for confidence as a personality trait is therefore very important I might be splitting hairs but I would like to suggest that although self-confidence is important to good negotiated outcomes it is much more important to successful persuasion. Why is this important? – because when a persuasive argument succeeds then the need to trade or compromise is reduced or eliminated... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2016/tell-me-a-story/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:37:32 GMT 3641 Robin Copland “The great thing about negotiating is that it enables people – often from diverse backgrounds and polarised positions – to come together and strike deals to the long-term benefit of both parties. You do not have to agree to do business or sign treaties. The whole process of trading enables participants to park their differences for the greater good.” I wrote that last week, but as I concluded the essay, I realised that perhaps the most difficult negotiations you will ever get involved in (apart from your personal terms and conditions at your workplace, or perhaps negotiating where... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2016/negotiating-differences-2/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:37:32 GMT 3640 Robin Copland The great thing about negotiating is that it enables people – often from diverse backgrounds and polarised positions – to come together and strike deals to the long-term benefit of both parties. You do not have to agree to do business or sign treaties. The whole process of trading enables participants to park their differences for the greater good. The funny thing is that negotiation often follows on from a period of conflict, the resolution of which has failed by using other methods of conflict resolution. When the Great War ended in 1918, the victorious side imposed such draconian terms on the losing side that many believe that the Second World War was merely a continuation of the first. In that case, the victors imposed their will (as was their right as they saw it as the winners) to the detriment of long-term peace... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2016/negotiating-differences/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:37:31 GMT 3639 Stephen White Why did President Putin suddenly and unexpectedly announce last week that Russia was pulling its armed forces out of Syria? It was an announcement that took every political commentator by surprise, and subsequently there were as many theories to explain the situation as there were commentators. Maybe he was bluffing, and not really pulling out at all. Maybe he couldn’t sustain the war effort financially. Maybe it was playing badly to his domestic audience. Maybe he had become irritated that the man he was supporting, President Assad, had become too arrogant after he discovered that Russia was to be an active ally... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2016/the-strategy-of-crazy/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:37:31 GMT 3638 Alan Smith Well there are actually! Negotiation involves cold logic, cutting through all the verbiage, careful and clear analysis of the volatile and unpredictable environment before coolly selecting the correct option. Problem is we rarely get the time when making the hundreds of decisions we need to make each day in the negotiations that we do in both our commercial and personal lives. Emotions play a huge part in the actions we take and to some extent the brains higher function has been argued is to sort out many of the choices we have already made and make sense of them after the fact... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2016/no-hard-feelings/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:37:31 GMT 3637 Stephen White A BBC reporter recently went to the Island of Lewis, part of the Outer Hebrides off the coast of Scotland, to gauge reaction to the increasing likelihood that Donald Trump will be the Republican presidential candidate. Donald Trump’s mother comes from Lewis; he is so to speak one of theirs. The journalist found that the islanders were less than enthusiastic about him... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2016/bragging/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:37:31 GMT 3636 Alan Smith When are you at your most creative? It is a question I often ask in the classroom when I am running negotiation skills development classes. Two retorts I often hear are: “Why?” (people are reluctant to answer unless they know why I want to know, cynical bunch) or “When I am under extreme pressure.” Let’s look at these one by one... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2016/the-creative-negotiator/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:37:31 GMT 3635 Stephen White We have a problem with my mother. She is a gregarious 90 year old, has successfully lived on her own since my Dad died 10 years ago, she is full of life and bright as a button, lots of friends, goes out to play cards five times a week. Until three weeks ago. Her arthritic knees gave up, and she became virtually immobile. She can hobble around her small apartment with the aid of a 3-wheeled ‘walker’, but the stairs are impossible, and she lives one floor up in a building without an elevator. She has become housebound. So she and the family have some decisions to make. Do we try to find a ground floor flat, which would allow her to go out, at least as far as a taxi which could take her to her friends and the shops? Should we aim for a warden assisted flat, where there would be a speedy rescue service if she fell over. Or should we find a residential care home where she could make new friends and spend the rest of her life (and we hope it will be a long one) being looked after... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2016/my-mother-and-the-eu/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:37:31 GMT 3634 Robin Copland It’s not that David Cameron does not have his troubles to seek as he shuttles around Europe trying to secure support for a modified agreement with the UK’s fellow European Union member states, but I bet you he wishes he had not been quite so cavalier as to promise an “in-out referendum” in the period leading up to the 2015 UK general election. Politically, he felt that he had to do it to give some kind of sop to the so-called “Euro-sceptic” wing of the Conservative Party and to prevent further haemorrhaging of potential supporters to UKIP... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2016/no-pressure-then/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:37:31 GMT 3633 Stephen White I had a haircut today, and learnt something simple but useful. Chatting to the barber I asked if he had ever been to a particular local restaurant. Yes, he said, but it was about 5 years ago and it wasn’t very good. He had found a small piece of plastic in his mouth whilst eating his meal, and he was unimpressed with the response from the waiter. He explained. “I said to him, I am not complaining or making a fuss, because I am not that kind of person, but I think you should know that this piece of plastic was in my food. The waiter looked at it and said ‘Cool, man. Thanks for telling me’, and wandered off... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2016/haircut-101/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:37:30 GMT 3632 David Bannister A few years ago I read an interesting article based on the work of a renowned US business school which gave the results of studies into acquisitions and mergers in international business over a period of years. The conclusion, briefly summarised, was that what these deals produced in practice was a long way short of what had been predicted for them at the outset – fewer than a third of deals met the expectations which had been heralded for them when they were being contemplated and shareholders were being convinced to endorse them. It is interesting that some of Scotwork’s emerging research into negotiating behaviours (we will be saying more about this in the months to come) indicates that untrained negotiators don’t see the negotiating process as adding a great deal of long term business value or as strengthening relationships. It seems the process is just a necessary evil to many who have to carry it out. Trained negotiators, however, seem to have a different view... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2016/negotiating-future-proofed-deals/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:37:30 GMT 3631 Alan Smith My daughter is a fairly recent and slightly nervous driver. One of the benefits of the children getting older is that sporadically Dad’s cabs get a Saturday off, and even an occasional lift home from the pub after a couple of cheeky sherbets on a Friday night. On one such occasion I was surprised to note that my little girl was reluctant to use her full beam when driving, preferring to keep to dipped headlights even in the pitch of night... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2016/driving-with-dipped-headlights/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:37:30 GMT 3630 Alan Smith The ability to negotiate through conflict is obviously critical within any organisation, regardless of which side of the fence they happen to sit, and in reality most of us sit on both sides of the fence in the different situations we find ourselves in. Sometimes we are buying, other times we are selling. Often we are managing others and maybe we are being managed. Point is we have to be able to handle all of the above... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2016/negotiate-well/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:37:30 GMT 3629 Stephen White One of the defining qualities of a good negotiator is the ability to manufacture unusual tradeable variables apparently out of thin air. An example of this is how time is used as a variable. Most people would agree that a day comprises 24 hours. But management consultants know that a day in terms of charging fees is more likely to be 7 hours, so clients who need more than 7 hours find themselves paying for more than a day. Car rental companies define a day as any period up to 24 hours, so clients who want less than that still have to pay for the full 24 hours. So a ‘usual’ day becomes subverted into an ‘unusual’ day with a little creative thinking https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2016/cinq-a-sept/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:37:30 GMT 3628 Stephen White It occurred to me. The most prominent current industrial dispute in England, between the Government and the Junior Doctors, might be an excellent vehicle to analyse how Millennials (defined typically as born after 1983) negotiate, and whether Millennial traits have impacted on the negotiations. For non-UK readers; ‘junior doctors’ includes doctors from the time they leave medical school to the time when they are appointed as ‘Consultants’, typically about 10 years later. There are about 55,000 of them, a very important component of the medical provision in England (the dispute does not affect doctors in Scotland or Wales). The dispute dates back to 2012, when the employers announced that they wanted to update the terms of employing junior doctors. Negotiations have been on and off since then, but on Monday they broke down and the doctor’s union (the BMA) announced strikes for later this month... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2016/the-traitment-of-junior-doctors/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:37:30 GMT 3627 Simon Kelland Most "negotiations" with retailers are simple haggles; you don't need to deal with them and they don't need to sell to you so it's simply a case of trying to get the maximum discount in a one off sale. Not a lot of skill needed to do haggle other than doing a bit of homework on the market so you know what a good price looks like, having the courage to propose the price you're prepared to pay and the fortitude to walk away if you can't get a deal (assuming you have the time and energy to go down the street to another retailer to do it all over again)... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2015/negotiating-with-retailers/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:37:13 GMT 3626 Alan Smith Is there a difference between telling lies or just being misleading? I guess lying, rather like beauty, may be in the eye of the beholder. "I want you to listen to me. I'm going to say this again - I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky." Was this the most blatant lie in modern times? ... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2015/liar-liar-pants-on-fire/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:37:13 GMT 3624 Stephen White Recently the Sunday Times Travel section reported an unfortunate accident. A Mr Graham Davies booked a multi-flight trip from the UK to The Philippines. He used a travel agency called CheapOair; I think that was his first mistake. I mean, would you? It’s like enthusiastically calling Rubbish Plumbers Ltd to fix a leak, or Lackadaisical Accountants LLP to look after your tax affairs?... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2015/e-by-gum/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:37:12 GMT 3623 David Bannister Here in the UK in the Autumn and the first part of Winter a televisual phenomenon hits our screens on a Saturday night. It’s called ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ or just ‘Strictly’ to the real addicts. A number of so-called celebrities are partnered with professional dancers and week by week they compete against each other in a knockout competition where viewers’ votes decide which contestant will be eliminated each week. Almost ten million eager followers tune in to this programme in the months it is on our televisions. I am not usually one of them but my wife is an aficionado. So I find other things to do when this programme is airing. Except for a little bit of the programme this year when Jane calls me and says: ‘Katie’s dancing!’. This refers to one of this year’s contestants, Katie Derham who I really want to win (and so do lots of others, some because she is partnered with a male dancer of great good humour and demeanour who has never managed to progress far in the contest)... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2015/strictly-come-negotiating/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:37:12 GMT 3622 Alan Smith A short but important lesson in this week’s blog. The daughter of a friend of mine decided to buy a new fridge. One of those big American style jobbies with ice dispenser, flashing lights and a disco ball. I exaggerate a little (not that much to be honest), but you get the point. Her issue was what to do with the old one? https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2015/just-because-you-dont-want-it/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:37:12 GMT 3621 Robin Copland and Stephen White George Santanaya’s maxim that ‘those who fail to learn from the mistakes of their predecessors are destined to repeat them’ has a corollary. We should use the successes of the past and repeat our behaviour with the problems of today? In particular, can we replicate the negotiating behaviour which brought about the Irish peace agreement to effect a negotiated settlement in the Middle East, and stop the carnage of Paris on 13/11, perpetrated by ISIS? https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2015/no-discussion-just-death/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:37:12 GMT 3620 David Bannister I wrote in this blog about three weeks ago about the commitment given by the UK Prime Minister, David Cameron, to write to the President of the European Council, Donald Tusk, setting out the demands which the UK would make in its negotiations with the EU prior to a referendum of the British people some time before the end of 2017 which will decide if the UK remains a member of the EU. My blog concerned a draft letter published in the Daily Telegraph, one of our more serious newspapers, written by Eurosceptic MEP, Daniel Hannan. On 10 November, Mr Cameron wrote the letter to Donald Tusk anticipated by Hannan and published its contents. In brief summary they are: https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2015/a-signal-day-for-europe/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:37:12 GMT 3618 Alan Smith Am I reading this right? We're all getting fat because we eat too much and don't exercise enough. Right? Well, not if you look at the debate about fat versus sugar now playing out. For years it was thought fat was bad for you: it made you get fat, so low-fat food was good. But the 'fat is bad' dogma is being widely challenged. Carbohydrates, including sugar, are increasingly viewed as the evil, fattening, toxic ingredient. Avoid the fry up and you will be fine. But the trouble with fat in your food is that it makes it taste good and if you take it out you have to do something to make it palatable. Sugar... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2015/what-now/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:37:12 GMT 3617 Stephen White It is fashionable for radicals to kick against the political establishment. The rise of Jeremy Corbyn in the UK, Nicola Sturgeon in Scotland, Marine Le Pen in France, Alexis Tsipras in Greece and Ben Carson in the US are symptomatic of a public disillusionment with the power-broking traditional ruling classes. Similarly it is fashionable for journalists to kick big business. Starbucks for avoiding tax, VW for tucking-up consumers, Tesco for manipulating their suppliers into unfavourable trade terms, and FIFA (yes, FIFA is first and foremost a business) for corrupt practices... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2015/kicking-the-shit-out-of-big-business/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:37:12 GMT 3616 David Bannister Daniel Hannan is a British Member of the European Parliament (MEP), an institution for which he seems to have little warmth (as do quite a number of other British MEPs). The UK has announced its intention to renegotiate the terms of its membership of the European Union (EU) and to put the issue to a referendum in the next couple of years. The tactics of all of this are of more than passing interest to a negotiator. So far, our Prime Minister, David Cameron, has made only relatively vague references to what issues will be on the agenda when he negotiates with his fellow leaders, some of whom have wasted no time to tell Cameron what they think will not be on the agenda. Those of us interested in the negotiating tactics might conclude (as I do) that not saying what you want is not a great starting point on the journey to getting what you want... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2015/what-to-do/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:37:11 GMT 3615 Tom Feinson Tesco’s travails over the last few months are many and varied. Recently they topped a grocers code adjudicator list for supplier complaints an in a recent survey only Iceland received a lower score from its suppliers, it must be cold there. For those that operate in this environment I imagine that this comes as no surprise and to be honest in my experience Tesco are not markedly worse than any of the Big 4. They all appear to operate on the basis that they have all the power and they can break and fix supplier relationships at will but is the worm turning? https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2015/its-about-time/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:37:11 GMT 3614 Alan Smith Saturday night was a very dark time for me and many of my English friends and colleagues. Whilst no one actually died, it feels like many of our dreams and hopes did. If you enjoy sport and even if you don’t you will be able to imagine just how devastating it is for an Englishman that the National rugby team was knocked out of its home World Cup tournament, by their old nemesis Australia. The only host nation ever to have been knocked out of their own tournament at such an early stage, the loss came fast on the heels of the defeat by Wales the previous week, a game that frankly England really should have won... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2015/a-black-day-to-be-english/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:37:11 GMT 3613 John McMillan A story in the British press reads that oilfield services provider Halliburton has made an offer to swallow rival Baker Hughes for $35 billion; Schlumberger has weighed in on equipment maker Cameron International in a $14.8 billion deal. Companies that specialise in one part of the services market, for example offshore drilling, are in a difficult situation and are finding themselves squeezed by their customers to such an extent that, in order to survive, they are having to accept takeover deals from bigger rivals or risk going out of business; takeover deals that would not have been countenanced 18 months ago are suddenly now acceptable – even welcome... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2015/a-fine-line/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:37:11 GMT 3612 Romana Henry I go running regularly with a good friend and neighbour who happens to be a criminal defence lawyer. She is married to another lawyer who works in property and estate settlement etc. On our runs, we exchange tips and advice. She tells me how expensive it would be to divorce my husband, why I shouldn’t burn a red light and why helping my 17 year old daughter to obtain fake I.D. to get into pubs really isn’t a good idea. Why I really must make a will soon, when to put my house on the market and what home improvements not to bother with. In exchange I tell her how to get a better deal in her various negotiations and we regularly brain storm long lists of things which she would like to get in negotiations in exchange for things she knows she will have to concede. Quite a pair we are. Imagine how much faster we would run if we spoke less and breathed more.... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2015/give-to-get-when-persuasion-doesn-t-work/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:37:11 GMT 3611 Simon Letchford In 1978, US President Jimmy Carter brokered the first peace agreement between Egypt and a free Jewish nation in over 2,000 years. If email had been widely available, do you think he could have used it to save everyone 13 days at Camp David? Many clients ask me whether they should negotiate by email, expecting me to say no. My answer is always the same – “Absolutely. Sometimes.” Here are some trade-offs to consider before you press SEND... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2015/negotiating-by-email/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:37:11 GMT 3610 Alan Smith Habits are one of the most useful things we can slip into. If we didn’t habitually do much of our daily lives we would simply be unable to deal with the sensory overload that modern life has become. Just imagine what a drag it would be if we had to consciously think about breathing, blinking, walking, how to make a cup of tea? Nothing would get done... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2015/you-may-think-that/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:37:11 GMT 3609 Stephen White and Alan Smith Ever run out of petrol? Well it seems that more and more of us have. Last year over 800,000 motorists reportedly ran dry. Research shows the number running out of petrol or diesel has risen every year since 2011, when the figure was a third lower. Men made up most of the 827,000 who ignored or chanced their arm when the fuel warning light came on. Are we becoming more risk friendly, foolish or price sensitive? Short answer all 3 https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2015/is-risk-the-best-policy/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:37:10 GMT 3608 Robin Copland I was interested by a report I read on the NHS website on 21 August in which Public Health England published an “evidence review” about e-cigarettes, stating that they were 95% safer than cigarettes and that, further, they were an effective quitting aid for smokers. As a result of the review, e-cigarettes are to be licensed and regulated as an aid to quit smoking from 2016... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2015/lesser-of-two-evils/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:37:10 GMT 3606 Alan Smith A few years ago I was talking to a guy at a dinner party and he, in the effort to engage in small talk, asked me what I did for a living. When I told him that I trained and consulted in the area of negotiation skills he was intrigued but also fairly dismissive. His view was that he never negotiated. He always got his own way by simply making an ultimatum. His view was that agreeing to negotiate was a sign of weakness and that when dealing with his suppliers he simply told them what they had to do and they did it, or he went elsewhere... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2015/green-lights/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:37:10 GMT 3605 Stephen White Last Wednesday evening was a bad time for two different groups of Londoners. At five o’clock the doors of several walk-in centres run by a high profile children’s charity called Kid’s Company closed for the last time, and thousands of children who depended on the charity for both physical and educational support were stranded. There had been suspicions about the financial affairs of this charity for some time – allegations that it was not well managed and that it was not in control of its finances. Central government was a major contributor and when the media picked up stories of financial irregularities they and other generous donors began to think twice about their funding. The final nail in the coffin came when allegations of sexual abuse of children on Kids Company premises were made; the privately donated money dried up completely, and because the charity had virtually no reserves it had to close. It is unlikely to re-open, at least in its present form. Just one hour later the iconic concertina gates at the entrance of many London tube stations were pulled closed because of a 24 hour strike called by the unions which serve the employees who work on the London Underground... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2015/mind-the-doors-please/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:37:10 GMT 3604 Mike Freedman I was recently invited to teach at a company that purchases the debts of financial institutions and then pursues the people that owe the money. This company buys the debts through a tender process and they then present the debtors with the facts about the law and the unpleasant consequences of non-payment. They called Scotwork because they wanted to improve their negotiations with debtors. They said that they were talking to a number of companies who had issued quotations to them for negotiation training. I told them as politely as possible that they were wasting their money... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2015/dont-confuse-negotiating-with-persuasion/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:37:10 GMT 3603 Sam Macbeth Although news of a pay differential between men and women doing the same or similar jobs is nothing new, recent studies suggest that even when women are on the employer’s side of a negotiation, men can feel more threatened by a female boss, and tend to negotiate using more extreme positions. In one survey, male and female college students at a U.S. university were asked to negotiate their salary at a new job in a computer exercise with a male or female hiring manager. Once they had, the participants were asked to guess words that appeared on a computer for a fraction of a second. Those who selected words such as "fear" or "risk" were judged to feel more threatened... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2015/engendering-negotiations/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:37:10 GMT 3602 David Bannister I was reading my newspaper recently and came across an article written by a woman journalist who was celebrating the demise of the, as she called it. ‘shiny suited car salesman’ whose sexist attitudes have apparently in the past been responsible for women being urged to do things like ‘discuss their purchases with the man of the house’ before making a decision. This article set out some, to me, quite eye-opening statistics for the UK market in new and ‘pre-owned’ (it’s what they call second hand here) cars. The internet has liberated people to change their purchasing habits when they buy a car. In the days before the internet dominated our buying approach, the average Briton buying a car made five visits to a dealership before making a purchase. Now, most of us do our research on line. You can choose your new car, sort out the finance for it and arrange the part exchange of your old car on line and even arrange delivery without setting eyes on a single shiny suit. Footfall in car dealerships in the UK has apparently fallen in the last few years from 30 million to an anticipated 15 million this year and a projected seven million in 2018. What a revolution! It is said that the second largest purchase we all make after a house is a car and we are moving to doing that without any human interaction – amazing! Or is it?... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2015/internet-shopping/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:37:10 GMT 3601 Stephen White Two negotiated deals of historic significance. One between Greece and the EU/Eurozone, the other between Iran and the P5+1. Both are hailed as a victory for diplomacy. Both are rubbish. Both are being derided and disowned in all quarters. Both are disintegrating as the ink dries. What do we learn?... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2015/rubbish-diplomacy/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:37:09 GMT 3600 Robin Copland A mate of mine recently visited New York on business and found himself with a spare half day or so, needing to be filled. It being February, the joys of Central Park were lost on him so, after a moment’s thought, he took himself off to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, there to see their collection of JMW Turner’s paintings in gallery 808. It’s on the second floor; a bit of a hike from the front door if we are going to be honest, but there we are. He’d seen the film (Mr Turner; worth a look if you haven’t seen it) and he was determined to see three of the great man’s paintings that hitherto had escaped his first-hand study... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2015/let-me-paint-you-a-picture/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:37:09 GMT 3599 Alan Smith It used to be that people had so much time on their hands that they were forever looking for things to do to fill it. When I talk about wrestling with an octopus I am talking literally, not making an oblique negotiating reference about dealing with slippery salesmen or procurement slight of (many) hands. Throughout time people have been looking for ways to occupy themselves. In the 18th century, for example, fox-tossing was a popular event in Poland, in fact at one prestigious event 687 foxes and an assortment of badgers, hares and wildcats were tossed into the air using slings. Sounds fun, not!... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2015/wrestling-with-an-octopus/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:37:09 GMT 3598 Robin Copland In or Out – that’s the Negotiation. Now that the Conservative party has been re-elected, the UK will be subject to a referendum, this time about Europe and its continued membership of the European Union. As an aside, those of us who live in Scotland are now becoming a bit jaded with the whole “referendum thing”; they’re a bit like the old Glasgow Corporation 59 bus that I used to know and love – none for forty-odd years, then two in quick succession, but that’s nobody’s fault but ours, so we should not complain. All part of the democratic process, blah-di-blah... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2015/in-or-out/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:37:09 GMT 3597 Stephen White How many deadlines have been and gone in the continuing saga of the economic chaos in Greece? I would suggest there have been so many that we no longer believe that any of them really mattered – or ever will matter in the future. The crescendo of press speculation in recent days indicates yet again that the media believes we might be getting close to a crisis point. That is because Greece has a large repayment of debt – a tidy €1.6 billion - to make to the International Monetary Fund by June 30th, and there isn’t that much in the Greek coffers, so there is a real possibility that Greece will default that day, triggering the much publicised exit of Greece from the Eurozone, commonly known as the Grexit. Add to this the fact that in recent days, talks between the various parties have all but broken down... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2015/its-always-my-fault/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:37:09 GMT 3596 Stephen White A woman tries to board an overcrowded bus at the bus depot. The passengers bar her way. She protests. ‘I must be allowed to get on this bus’ she says. ‘Why’, the other passengers reply. ‘What makes you so important that you should take priority over others who are already on the bus?’ ‘Because I’m the driver’ she says. Two weeks ago we saw Sepp Blatter exercising his rights as the ‘driver’ to stay on the bus, even though more and more of his fellow passengers were uncomfortable with his insistence to do so. Eventually the pressure got to him, and now the whole FIFA edifice is collapsing before our eyes.... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2015/why-sepp-blatter-has-my-sympathy/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:37:09 GMT 3595 Alan Smith A relatively small and parochial point this week, but it illustrates that opportunities to negotiate abound. A deal may just improve your position in any walk of life. I have been working in the US this week and flew into JFK on Monday with the intention of staying in Manhattan on Monday prior to starting work on Tuesday. I booked into a small hotel just off Broadway. Now, New York is 5 hours behind UK time so at around 9 pm (2 am on my body clock) I decided to turn in... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2015/theres-never-anything-on-anyway/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:37:08 GMT 3594 Robin Copland A friend of mine is a specialist clothes manufacturer – I do not want to say more than that for fear of identifying him - who, when he opened his factory thirty years ago, was fairly desperate to get one or two big clients to underwrite his business in the first few unsteady years. Fortunately for him, he found a few, one of whom was and is a well-known high street retailer in the UK. Now, this company has exacting standards. I used to be in the hotel business and I well remember that we hosted their annual staff dinner one year... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2015/competitive-stances-breed-competitive-stances/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:37:08 GMT 3593 Stephen White A recent article in the New York Times has some food for thought for wise negotiators. The authors pose this question – How do you motivate people to do the right thing when the ‘market’ doesn’t work? Their context is the chronic shortage of water in California. This has now become so bad that new mandatory water-reduction regulations came into effect on April 1st. Most of these appear to concern communal water usage such as sprinklers on golf courses and cemeteries, and the replacement of community lawns with grasses which are more resistant to drought conditions. Private citizens are encouraged to improve water retention methods through a rebate scheme on new garden watering equipment, and new homes are subject to stricter regulations... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2015/looking-good/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:37:08 GMT 3592 Stephen White The recent Argentinian film ‘Wild Tales’ is a compilation of six unrelated fictions about people in desperate situations. I would recommend it to anyone who likes entertaining storytelling, but one of the segments has particular interest for negotiators. The plot revolves around the wealthy father of a wayward teenager who takes the family BMW out for the night, gets drunk, and collides with a pregnant pedestrian in a hit-and-run incident. Mother and unborn child don’t survive. The teenager confesses to his parents, and the father together with the family lawyer hatch a plan. The gardener, a retainer of many years standing, is invited to take the rap by claiming to be the driver, and serve the prison sentence (expected to be an unrealistic 18 months) in return for $500,000, a sum beyond his dreams... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2015/the-power-of-no/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:37:08 GMT 3591 Stephen White On the day this blog is published the population of the UK vote in elections for their next government. Opinion polls put the two main parties neck and neck, with neither commanding a strong enough following to win an outright majority. So the result is likely to be a minority government which will have to form a coalition or make deals with the handful of minor parties in order to be able to govern. Even if there is an outright majority for one party the margin will be so small that alliances will need to be forged for effective government to survive. Do we have a cadre of politicians who can rise to the challenge of creating these deals through effective and inspired negotiating?... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2015/negotiating-advice-for-politicians/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:37:08 GMT 3590 Alan Smith There appears to be a new technique being banded about by politicians in the UK, no doubt encouraged by their spin doctors in the long run up to this May’s General election. This technique or tactic is called throwing a dead cat on the table. Now no need to get squeamish, the cat is not literally dead, nor has it really been thrown anywhere least especially on the table. The technique refers to a metaphorical cat not a real one... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2015/dead-cat-tactic/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:37:08 GMT 3589 Alan Smith We are in political season, so I make no apology for another observation on the political landscape, from which the negotiator can learn so much. All three stories involve the SNP. Story 1. As the tension and torture of last year’s Scottish independence referendum fade away, the resurgent SNP wants to go again – perhaps as early as next year... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2015/three-stories-in-one/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:37:08 GMT 3588 Alan Smith Questions, questions everywhere, and not an answer in sight. Asking good questions is productive, positive, creative, and can help get us what we want. Most people believe this to be true and yet often people do not ask enough questions. Perhaps one of the reasons for this is that effective questioning requires to be combined with effective listening. Last week I was listening to Eric Pickles, the conservative MP being interviewed on Radio 4’s today programme... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2015/questions/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:37:07 GMT 3587 Stephen White Somewhat quietly last Thursday, several days after the expiry of an arbitrary deadline which had been set for the finalisation of a agreement on the future of Iran’s nuclear capability, a deal was announced. There was rejoicing on the streets of Teheran, ominous rumblings of discontent in Jerusalem and Riyadh, a touch of triumphalism in Washington, and near silence in London, Paris and Berlin. After all the conditioning we had received from the spokespeople and pundits it was probably impossible for there to have been any other outcome. So much ego had been invested on both sides of the table that to announce a failure or a deadlock would have shown up all the politicians involved as incompetent... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2015/the-deal-that-is-no-deal/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:37:07 GMT 3586 Alan Smith A couple of weeks ago we asked readers to submit words (made up ones) and their definitions as part of a tongue in cheek exploration of a new vocabulary for the seasoned negotiator to describe behaviours, activities, tricks and techniques they have encountered whilst participating in the noble art of negotiation. Regular readers may recall that we suggested that linguists and philosophers recognize that language defines reality. The way we talk about a subject creates the landscape in which that subject lives. Just as we are often said to be what we eat, we are in many respects are what we say... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2015/the-meaning-of-liff-part-2/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:37:07 GMT 3585 Alan Smith This morning (Tuesday 24th March) the news is awash with the revelation that the British Prime Minister says that he will not serve a third term as the leader of the Conservative party, and therefore leader of the country, should they be re-elected, again and again. Now bearing in mind he has not won the next election it seems remarkably confident, or arrogant to think he could possibly win the one after... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2015/honesty/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:37:07 GMT 3584 Alan Smith What price is cost control? There is a natural tendency for us all to be looking to drive down the cost of what we buy. We all do it. Even those of us who sell stuff, services or products for a living will need to buy, and the same is true for those who buy; they often have to sell, even if it just themselves to the man. But the problem of focusing exclusively on cost as an issue was brought home to me again when I glanced at the ingredients on my recently consumed, Bakewell Tart... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2015/do-you-like-radish/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:37:07 GMT 3583 Stephen White Driving to a meeting recently I was brought low by a radio programme about dementia. The story, told by her family and her medical team, was of the remainder of the life of a bubbly and vivacious woman who was diagnosed with dementia at the age of 80. As her condition worsened she became increasingly uncommunicative and aggressive, and finally died some 13 years later. One element of the unfolding story was unusual. In middle age she had made a living will... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2015/negotiating-the-will-to-live/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:37:07 GMT 3582 Alan Smith It has been said that Inuit have more than 17 different words for snow. Why should this be? Anthropologists hold the view that the language we speak both affects and reflects our view of the world. The idea that Inuit have so many words for snow has given rise to the idea that they view snow very differently from people of other cultures... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2015/the-meaning-of-liff/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:37:06 GMT 3581 Yannis Dimarakis Most of you have followed (to some extent at least) the negotiations between the recently elected Greek government and its European partners. Depending on his or her political persuasion, an observer may feel in a number of ways regarding the outcome. So was the agreement a huge success, or was it a full capitulation of the Greek government?... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2015/its-all-about-packaging/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:37:06 GMT 3580 Yannis Dimarakis As these lines are written, the negotiations between the Greek government and its Eurogroup partners are still under way. As the end result is not yet known (and probably will not be for some days) some mistakes of the Greek handling of the situation are already discernible. Here are three obvious mistakes I have selected to discuss in this article... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2015/errors-in-greek-negotiating-strategy/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:37:06 GMT 3579 Stephen White A recent TV documentary (The Secret Life of 4 Year Olds) gave a fascinating insight into the way grown-ups work. The film makers fitted out a kindergarten classroom with hidden cameras, and then put a group of 4 year olds into the classroom to interact with each other, under the supervision of two expert teachers, and secretly watched by a group of child psychologists. Having identified some of the personality traits of the children, they were split into two groups and invited to build a pretend house out of cardboard boxes and then decorate it. The groups were pre-selected; one had the more dominant children in it, and one had the less dominant. They were told that the team which built the better house would be declared winners.. https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2015/learning-from-children/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:37:06 GMT 3578 Alan Smith Get mad back? Not so sure. Couple of things have passed my desk this week that have prompted this blog. The first is something that happened to me on one of our Advancing Negotiation Skills courses. One of the participants was asking about how to deal with difficult people. I suspect we have all come across them in our lives be it work or personal. As usual to give myself time to ponder and consider a response, a kind of adjournment, I asked the rest of the group if they had any ideas... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2015/get-mad-back/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:37:06 GMT 3577 Robin Copland Well, the Greeks have finally gone and done it. At the weekend, they kicked out the conservative New Democracy party – the dominant force in the coalition led by the outgoing prime minister Antonis Samaras and instead voted in Alexis Tsipras’s radical left Syriza party. The rest of Europe has looked on askance; Greece has muscled her way onto the front pages of just about every serious newspaper in Europe; bankers and leaders Europe-wide have been keeping the Andrex puppy busy ever since the news came out... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2015/precedent/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:37:06 GMT 3576 Robin Copland Jim Murphy, the new leader of the Labour party in Scotland, was interviewed on the radio recently and the issue of unilateral nuclear disarmament was raised. By way of background, there has always been a body of opinion in the UK in favour of unilateral nuclear disarmament, indeed, during the recent referendum debate in Scotland, the Scottish National Party, in favour of Scottish independence, insisted that, in the event that Scotland voted “Yes” for independence, she would become a “nuclear-free zone” as soon as possible... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2015/unilateral-disarmament/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:37:06 GMT 3575 Alan Smith There is one group for whom cheaper oil is bad news — oil producers, who've been having an amazing run between a combination of higher prices and surging production. For the rest of us it may be pretty good news. For the negotiator there is certainly the potential of a discussion dependent on the relationship between the price of oil and that of your end products, and how you approach it will depend on which side of the fence you sit... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2015/pour-oil-on-it/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:37:05 GMT 3574 Alan Smith I love Christmas, but I hate paying for it. Sadly as a father of 5, Christmas, whilst being a wonderful time is also a very expensive one. I am sure like everyone else I also get excited in the run up to the event and am seduced by those people in marketing (God bless them) to spend more than I want to on things no-one needs, to impress them and convince them that under this crusty exterior I am a nice bloke after all... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2015/billion-dollars/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:37:05 GMT 3573 The Scotwork Team On Christmas Day 1914 the guns fell silent on no mans land. English, Irish, Welsh and Scottish Soldiers emerged from their trenches to meet the German enemy to shake hands and exchange gifts. Despite that only hours previously they had been involved in a vicious and unrelenting exchange of bullets, they engaged in an improvised and good humored football match on the battlefields, Germany V Great Britain. Germany it is rumored won 3 – 2. Did it happen? And why?... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2014/pipes-of-peace/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:36:42 GMT 3572 Alan Smith Who does the housework in your house? Seems this is a much bigger issue than you might think. Or maybe it is already a huge issue for you. I suspect it depends on who does it and whether you care. It certainly seems to cause significant conflict if the radio is to be believed. I have a confession to make. As someone who works a lot from home I find myself in an office in my garden with very little company apart from the radio. A guilty highlight (sometimes) is Women’s Hour on BBC Radio 4... Remarkably there has been a controversial theme over the last few weeks focused exclusively on housework, and who does it... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2014/chore-wars/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:36:42 GMT 3571 Stephen White An American President (depending on your politics it could be any American President since Eisenhower) visits a class of 9 year-olds. The class is discussing the meaning of the word tragedy. The President asks ‘Can anyone give me an example of the word ‘tragedy’. Peter says ‘My friend ran into the road and was killed by a passing car – that is a tragedy’. ‘No’, says the President, ‘that is an accident’. Jane says ‘There is a chemical leak at a factory and 2500 people are killed – that is a tragedy’. ‘No’, says the President, ‘I would call that a devastating loss’. William says ‘The Presidential plane is blown out of the sky by a ground-to-air missile fired by a rogue American soldier, and you are on board – that would be a tragedy’... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2014/bhopal/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:36:42 GMT 3570 Alan Smith It is a very simple equation to look at how margin is impacted by the price a company charges for its products. Take a very easy example of a company whose P&L sheet looks like this; Sales - 100 Materials - 60 Labour - 20 Other - 10 Profit - 10 If this company has to respond to market forces and drop its sales prices by 5% and other costs remain the same the impact on profit is a dramatic 50%.... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2014/the-sin-of-greed/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:36:41 GMT 3569 Stephen White At first glance there may not seem much in common between Formula One racing and chartered accountancy. So the news today that KPMG have teamed up with a division of the McLaren racing team is both unexpected and exciting. McLaren will give KPMG access to the methodology they use to process the amounts of ‘big-data’ such as the information they collect as the racing car speeds round the track so that it can be used to help them make predicative decisions such as when to bring a car in for a pit stop. KPMG intend to use this information in a number of ways, most commonly to help them identify (predict) future problems and issues when they are doing audit work, rather than allowing the audit simply to be a backward looking view of a corporate body. Part of the deal is that KPMG will become one of the sponsors of the McLaren team – it is good to see that both parties used their negotiating skills to make a good trade... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2014/accountants-are-all-torque/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:36:41 GMT 3568 Robin Copland There has been much weeping and gnashing of teeth lately amongst the chattering classes and politicians in the UK and, perhaps predictably as we move ever closer to what promises to be the strangest election in recent history, it concerns money and the European Union. Last month (October 2014), it was suddenly and rather breathlessly announced in banner headlines that Britain was going to be hit for a £1.7bn pound deficit bill from the EU. The UK Prime Minister, David Cameron, immediately went to Defcon 12 and very publicly rebuked the EU for the procedure it had adopted in making the announcement, for the timing of the announcement and, not to put too fine a point on it, for the amount involved.... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2014/a-winning-package/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:36:41 GMT 3567 Mike Freedman Frequently people want to talk about their negotiating strategy. My immediate (if private) reaction to this is “oh dear!!” Negotiation is a means of dealing with conflict; it can be stressful. So, in preparation we tend to surround ourselves with all sorts of tools and defences that will make us feel more powerful or at least more comfortable. For example people like to play out their negotiation strategy before it happens. Their strategy involves a long storyboard, a sequence of exactly what they and the other side will say and do... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2014/yes-but/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:36:41 GMT 3566 Stephen White There is a sweet story about a car mechanic who is fixing the engine of the car belonging to an eminent heart surgeon. The surgeon arrives in the repair shop whilst the job is still not quite completed. The mechanic calls the doctor over to have a look under the bonnet. “You and I do the same job, Doc. I opened the engine’s heart, took the valves out, I am repairing and replacing anything damaged and then I will put everything back together and when it is finished, it will work like new. Just like you do. So how come I earn £40,000 a year and you earn £400,000 a year?”... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2014/infallibility/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:36:41 GMT 3565 Alan Smith There are three things that stick out for me from the new series of The Apprentice. The first is that at 10 years old it remains remarkably good telly. The introduction of new tweaks and twists on a familiar format makes it essential viewing if you want to have something to say at the water cooler. Not many programs still pass that test... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2014/business/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:36:41 GMT 3564 Stephen White This week the 2014 Nobel Prize for Economics was awarded to Professor Jean Tirole for his writings on the regulation of large corporations. Professor Tirole made his reputation largely on his work about Game Theory; his book (with Drew Fudenberg) called Game Theory is not an easy read. Densely packed with mathematical equations the book tries to explain the behaviour of individuals in a market who make decisions based on their expectations of how their customers, suppliers and competitors are likely to react in the future. Even the first example in the book, which describes how a pie manufacturer would use Game Theory to choose how to set his prices in the market for one single day, would make most people’s head spin... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2014/complicated-games/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:36:41 GMT 3563 Gaetan Pellerin We’ve all been trained to hide our emotions in a business environment—especially during negotiation. Keep your emotions out of negotiations or the other side may crush you, right? Not exactly, because you can’t negotiate effectively as a detached robot. So how do you find the happy medium? Recognize that emotions—positive and negative—are totally normal during a negotiation. But we’re often so busy driving the conversation, persuading the other party and doing everything we can to close the deal, that in the moment, we lose touch with our emotions. Or we choose not to deal with them... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2014/get-real-about-emotions/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:36:40 GMT 3562 Alan Smith What is the worst thing you can do when negotiating? Lots of things I guess but probably the most obvious one of all is a lack of preparation. Last year was the 30th anniversary of the bestselling book by Chris Ryan, Bravo, Two, Zero. I’ve got to be honest when it first came out I did not read it. I thought it would only be of interest to military types and frankly was a bit embarrassed to read it on the train or tube, which was my main reading time back then... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2014/the-biggest-sin-of-all/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:36:40 GMT 3560 Stephen White Imagine this scenario. You are driving through city streets as a passenger with a colleague at the wheel. He is driving faster than the speed limit, trying to get a meeting on time, and is involved in a minor accident; no one is hurt but the police are called. Passers-by who witnessed the event tell the police they think your colleague was speeding. He asks you to speak as a witness on his behalf; to testify that he wasn’t speeding. What would you do? The Universalist sees this problem in terms of the uniformity of the application of laws and regulations. The issues of loyalty and the attempt to be punctual for a meeting are irrelevant; if the law has been broken then the consequences should be suffered by all, notwithstanding special circumstances or relationships. The Particularist sees the same problem in terms of extenuating circumstances and relationships. No one got hurt, you know your colleague is usually a safe driver, being truthful may well affect the relationship with him and possibly impose a driving penalty on him as well.... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2014/univesalists-of-the-world-beware/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:36:40 GMT 3559 Stephen White Publishing this on the day the Scottish population votes on Independence, we are no different from any of the other pundits - unable to forecast the result. But we can forecast that whatever the result the Scottish people will lose their ability to function truly as a democracy. This is because whichever side has the majority the result will be extremely close – 51/49, or 52/48 or something similar. In practical terms therefore about half of the population will getting exactly what they don’t want... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2014/why-i-like-negotiating/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:36:40 GMT 3558 Alan Smith On 18 September voters in Scotland will be asked the Yes/No question: "Should Scotland be an independent country?" The final push for votes comes as a YouGov poll run by the Sunday Times suggested that, of those who have made up their mind, 51% planned to back independence, while 49% intended to vote no. Looks like the vote is going to go to the wire... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2014/time-is-running-out/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:36:40 GMT 3557 Alan Smith I am a big fan of the Kindle. It is convenient, easy to read at night, can carry lots of product, etc., etc. But whilst I still also love books, the Kindle’s massive advantage is the price you pay and the ease by which you can get hold of pretty much any book in print at any time, provided you have internet access. Brilliant... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2014/how-do-you-read-it/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:36:40 GMT 3556 Stephen White Just as they say that everyone remembers what they were doing when they heard that JFK had been assassinated, the same applies to 9/11. In my case I was in a Dixons electrical shop; I watched the second plane fly into the building on a wall of about 50 TVs which were on display for sale, all showing the identical picture. I commented on the devastating nature of the spectacle to the sales assistant who was completing my purchase. ‘It’s just TV’ he said, not recognising that the event was real. The result of that attack, the War on Terror and the subsequent events in Afghanistan and Iraq, continue to affect our daily lives... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2014/where-were-you/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:36:40 GMT 3555 Tom Feinson As ever it feels like little or no time has elapsed between the end of one season and the beginning of another. The World Cup serves to heighten those feelings, but here we are on the eve of new season, that blissful period where our hopes, dreams and aspirations are as yet undashed. The glorious “Transfer Window” (unless of course you are Southampton) enables teams to offload a dodgy left back or temperamental winger (should that be whinger) and land a top quality striker ‘Who is going to give us 30 goals a season’... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2014/show-me-the-money/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:36:39 GMT 3554 John McMillan On September 18th, Scotland, part of the United Kingdom for 300 years, is holding a referendum on whether to split away from the rest of the UK and become an independent country. Assuming that there is a ‘Yes’ vote, the Scottish Government has a massive negotiating challenge ahead if it is to meet its self-imposed deadline of 24th March 2016; barely 18 months after the votes will be counted... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2014/countdown-conundrum/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:36:39 GMT 3553 Robin Copland Recently, I found myself in Cork in Ireland. Beautiful place and well worth a visit if you have never been. Its weather (we don’t have a climate in these parts; we just have the weather. Indeed, we spend a lot of time talking about the weather and if we didn’t have it to talk about, then this would a quiet place, let me assure you!) is balmy; never too hot and never too cold. For a man from northern climes it is well-nigh perfect; this does not mean to say though that, from time to time, it does not get hot, because believe me, it does and I happened upon one of the weeks in the year when it was hot, hot, hot... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2014/what-i-need-is-a-fan/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:36:39 GMT 3552 Stephen White As I write, in Israel and Gaza the conflict continues, and two thousand miles away the aggression between those Ukrainians who want their country to face East, and those who want it to face West also continues. The collateral damage in both cases is tragic; men, women and children who have nothing to do with any political or ideological movement are killed and injured by rockets and tank shells which are aimed indiscriminately at population centres, or which shoot a commercial plane out of the sky... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2014/the-impotence-of-negotiators/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:36:39 GMT 3551 Mark Simpson The media has discovered that Council controlled Auckland Transport is using special shuttles to move staff around Auckland – apparently because it’s faster than the public transport they provide for the rest of us. When challenged Auckland Transport shot themselves in the foot and provided us with a beautiful example of argument dilution. Initially, Auckland Transport highlighted the benefits of the shuttles as – being able to cut down the size of its car fleet and improve “business efficiency”. A good sound reason for trialling the shuttle businesses. https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2014/argument-dilution-auckland-transport-way/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:36:39 GMT 3550 Alan Smith As the summer political season approaches, we can expect to be bombarded from both sides of the pond with statements, postures and photo opportunities, all designed to gain some kind of political advantage. In the US the mid-term elections are being held in November; in May next year the General Election beckons and one of the key players in the British election is looking stateside for as much help as he can get. Ed Miliband has already employed David Axelrod. Axelrod, who helped President Obama to two victories, will join Labour’s general election campaign team as a senior strategic adviser... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2014/whats-it-worth/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:36:39 GMT 3549 Alan Smith Size matters. But so do lots of other things. It’s all in the detail, and we all know that. So, why are so many problems only discovered after the ink has long dried? The temptation as we approach the end game of a long and difficult negotiation is to heave a great sigh of relief and run to the pub to celebrate a job well done over a glass of our favourite tipple... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2014/size-matters/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:36:39 GMT 3548 Robin Copland I honestly do not know how many cities have trams. I know that in the UK, there are a fair few and some of the networks are extensive. Manchester and Sheffield, to name but two, have lines going all over the place and I am aware that Sheffield’s network is so well-used that a major upgrade programme has just been announced. Edinburgh now proudly joins these and, of course, many other European cities in having its very own tram – I was going to use the word “network” there again, but that’s not strictly true; “line” might be a better word. I can tell you without a moment of research and with no possibility of disagreement from anyone, anywhere that Edinburgh’s tram line excels in one area above all others – and that is its cost per kilometre... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2014/going-off-the-rails/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:36:38 GMT 3547 Robin Copland When companies get good at providing a service, it becomes convenient to put more and more business their way. They provide an efficient route to market; they give suppliers the chance to make one big delivery instead of four or five smaller ones; their marketing campaigns are slick and entice more customers through their – sometimes electronic – doors. From the consumers’ perspective, they provide a glitzy, one-stop-shop service that saves time, trouble and hassle. Eventually, they inhabit large green- or brown-field sites on the edges of great conurbations, with lots of parking and the odd ancillary service provided to make the whole retail experience that bit more bearable... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2014/whose-fault-is-it-anyway/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:36:38 GMT 3546 Stephen White Last week it looked like politics was overwhelming the FIFA World Cup. Accusations of financial scandal involving the selection of Qatar as the venue for the 2022 competition, and adverse comment about the potential re-election of 78 year-old Sepp Blatter as President of FIFA dwarfed the press content about the actual football. Until, that is, the football actually started, after which all the dissent and scandal seemed to fade away. A similar situation occurred six months ago before the Winter Olympics at Sochi. Terrorists threatened to blow up the Games and LGBT activists tried to focus attention on human rights abuse in Russia. But after the opening ceremony, once the skiing and tobogganing started, it was sport, sport, sport all the way... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2014/sideshow/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:36:38 GMT 3545 Alan Smith Researchers into fatalities caused by storms have made an interesting and rather odd finding. For as long as people have been tracking and reporting hurricanes, also known as tropical cyclones, they’ve been struggling to find ways to identify them. Until well into the 20th century, newspapers and forecasters in the United States devised names for storms that referenced their time period, geographic location or intensity; hence, the Great Hurricane of 1722, the Galveston Storm of 1900, the Labour Day Hurricane of 1935 and the Big Blow of 1913... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2014/its-all-in-the-name/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:36:38 GMT 3544 Alan Smith About 6 years ago my daughter then aged 8 decided that she would like to join her older brother at Karate lessons. I was delighted. So much so that I decided to join her at the adult class. Unlike my son, both she and I have kept it up, and last Friday she took her Black Belt first Dan grade which she achieved. I was utterly thrilled and very proud of the commitment, hard work and determination that it took... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2014/the-black-belt-and-the-negotiator/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:36:38 GMT 3542 Stephen White Until yesterday I thought that the bid by US pharma giant Pfizer for UK based pharma giant AstraZeneca was a flash-in-the-pan piece of opportunism. We first heard of the plan at the beginning of May, when an offer of £50 per share was tabled. The merger would create the largest pharmaceutical company in the world. It was based on two premises, firstly that AstraZeneca were weak because their product portfolio contained a number of high-profit drugs which were coming to the end of their patent protection, and with nothing much in the R&D cupboard to replace them, and secondly because it gave Pfizer an advantage by enabling them to move their head office to the UK and save loads of tax in an avoidance wheeze... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2014/the-best-laid-plans/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:36:38 GMT 3543 Alan Smith Politicians who promise that the streets will be paved with gold and deliver nothing but cobbled cul-de-sacs, managers who claim that the future will be filled with bonuses and jam while delivering dry crust and the negotiator who offers a future filled with high volume orders and pulls them whilst pocketing the promotional bonus. Nothing offends the sensibility quite so much as the empty promise delivered with mind-boggling confidence... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2014/talent-is-overrated/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:36:38 GMT 3541 Stephen White On Wednesday Roger Boyes, the Diplomatic Editor of the London Times, wrote an op-ed piece critical of the West’s approach to the Iranian nuclear situation. In summary his view is that during the current negotiations Iranian President Rouhani may be making all the right noises about the lack of intent to build a nuclear bomb, but because he is a transient figure on the Iranian political scene, Boyes suggests that unless there is an agreement to international monitoring of the Revolutionary Guard, which is the stronger and more permanent force in Iranian politics and which controls the Iranian nuclear programme, then promises made so far will be worthless. As a result Iran will achieve a nuclear bomb and the world will be powerless to do anything about it in retrospect... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2014/promises/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:36:37 GMT 3540 Alan Smith In spite of its largely unknown cast, a promiscuous leading female character, a tragic death and a miniscule budget, Four Weddings and a Funeral is still one of the most successful British films ever made. It is now 20 years since it opened in Britain - making household names of its stars, and taking an estimated $250 million worldwide. Not bad for a budget of less than £3 million... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2014/its-your-funeral/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:36:37 GMT 3539 Stephen White During the Pistorius trial I happened to spend some time with a friend who is a judge. I asked him if over his 30 years of experience he had developed a sense of who was telling the truth, particularly important when the outcome of a court case between a plaintiff and a defendant at war depended on which version of events the judge believed because there were no witnesses. Yes, he said, you do get a feel for it; it’s not infallible but you usually know who is telling the truth... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2014/i-believed-every-word/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:36:37 GMT 3538 Robin Copland As 2014 heads for September, Scotland thinks of itself as at the centre of a political maelstrom. In truth, some Europeans are following the independence debate with interest, but the rest of the world could not, it seems, care a jot. Never mind; for those of us who live in Scotland – an important distinction as only those resident in Scotland in September will have a vote – it is providing politicians with a chance to strut their stuff and to ally themselves with people and parties who are normally their sworn enemies. Thus, we have the former prime minister, Gordon Brown speaking out on behalf of the “Better Together” campaign – a campaign for which his arch-enemy the current prime minister, David Cameron, has also spoken... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2014/better-together/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:36:37 GMT 3537 Alan Smith I want you to imagine that you have been preparing for a negotiation and you have got to the point were you have to declare your financial proposal to paper. The bit that is going to be critical, maybe even the most important (maybe), is the price. We could drift tangentially off point here and talk about things that may be much more important than price, like availability, quality, terms, etc., etc., we won’t. But you should... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2014/precisely/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:36:37 GMT 3536 Alan Smith Sun Tzu, the legendary Chinese Military tactician said “To know your Enemy, you must become your Enemy.” I was reminded of this famous quote when I read a review of Robert Lindsay’s new play, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, in which Lindsay talked about his political past. For people of my generation, Lindsay came to prominence in his breakthrough role as a hapless Marxist in the TV sitcom Citizen Smith... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2014/know-your-enemy/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:36:37 GMT 3535 Romana Henry As a French speaker, I was recently despatched to the French island of La Reunion, located in the middle of the Indian Ocean close to Mauritius and Madagascar to run a course. What a place! A tropical paradise with wonderful people, beaches, sea, food, scenery, the list goes on and on. My colleague Julien, originally from Paris but living there for the last 10 years – life’s a bitch – told me a lovely story... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2014/a-lovely-bunch-of-coconuts/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:36:37 GMT 3534 Stephen White News pictures of distraught relatives of the passengers on flight MH370, missing now for more than 2 weeks, bring home an uncomfortable truth. Even in the light of technological detective work which broke new ground and determined beyond reasonable doubt that the plane had ditched in a remote part of the South Indian Ocean, many of the bereaved are unconvinced, and say they will remain sceptical until physical evidence of the plane in the sea is produced... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2014/scepticism/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:36:36 GMT 3533 Alan Smith Alice Walker, author of “The Colour Purple" and civil rights activist said “The most common way that people give up their power, is by thinking they don’t have any”. The reality of the power of what we think was driven home to me recently by the TED talk given by Psychologist Kelly McGonigal, who presented a kind of positive case for stress... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2014/thought-so/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:36:36 GMT 3532 David Bannister I have just returned from holiday and one of the joys of a holiday is having lots of time to read. This holiday, one of the books I read was ‘A Street Cat named Bob’. It’s an uplifting and sometimes challenging book about a recovering drug addict – James Bowen, the author, and his cat, Bob whom he finds in the lobby of his building and whom he helps to recover from neglect and befriends. Having Bob gives James a reason for overcoming his heroin habit and he manages to get a job selling the ‘Big Issue’ in London – he had previously been a busker... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2014/lessons-in-negotiating/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:36:36 GMT 3531 Stephen White As the current situation in Ukraine is changing so swiftly that no one has any serious ability to predict the outcome, conflict-resolution pundits should be reading the unfolding events in negotiating terms in order to make sense of what is going on, for themselves and for those who follow them. Why in negotiating terms? Because it is inevitable that sooner or later the parties involved will sit down and talk to each other. The world will hope that this happens within days, although recent history, for example in Syria, suggests that these talks might take years, with untold human misery happening in the vacuum. Here are some easily identifiable negotiating pointers to the events of the last 2 weeks... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2014/ukrainian-tractors/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:36:36 GMT 3530 Stephen White Our propensity to believe the unbelievable is enhanced by a world which is increasingly intrinsically unbelievable. I find myself gawping at the news on a daily basis. Facebook paid $19,000,000,000 for an App which employs only 55 people and doesn’t take advertising? Did your finger get stuck on the zero button? Candy Crush Saga, a moronically addictive computer game, has been downloaded more than half a billion times? You’re pulling my leg. ATMs already exist for a virtual currency which has existed for only 4 years, is prone to vast fluctuations in value, and is often used for money laundering? Surely not... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2014/duck-quacks-dont-echo/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:36:36 GMT 3529 Alan Smith Valentine’s Day gone. Red Roses wilting depressingly in the vase perched on the window sill. Champagne cork stuck behind the book on the top shelf where it landed and will remain, probably till we move house. Promises made in the heat of the night, vaguely remembered. Including the one about agreeing to do whatever it takes to get that leaking shower unit fixed (bet you were not expecting such a pedestrian promise) before our extended families descend on us for Easter, aquaplaning as it approaches in the outside lane... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2014/i-would-do-anything-for-love/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:36:36 GMT 3528 Alan Smith Switzerland's economy is booming at the moment, and unemployment is low, but many Swiss worry about what they see as a looming problem, namely, immigration. Last year 80,000 new immigrants arrived in Switzerland with a relatively small overall population of around 5 million, and foreigners now make up 23% of the inhabitants. It is the continent's second highest foreign population after Luxembourg, for whom 42% are immigrants... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2014/cuckoo-is-the-clock-running-out-on-switzerland/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:36:36 GMT 3527 Stephen White The Winter Olympic Games open in Sochi this Friday, but any expectation that there would by now be a rising tide of enthusiasm for the splendour of the opening ceremony or the thrill of the sports on show has been dashed. Instead we only read about the likelihood of a Chechen terrorist attack, the possible effect on athletes and spectators of recently enacted anti-gay Russian legislation and the appalling prospect that some Western journalists might find their hotel bedrooms are unfinished... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2014/freezing-the-terrorists-out/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:36:35 GMT 3526 Robin Copland For a man who trained as a physician at the university of Damascus and who spent two years in post graduate training in ophthalmology at the Western Eye Hospital, part of the St Mary’s group of teaching hospitals in London; a man, furthermore, who had few, if any, political aspirations until his brother’s death in 1994, President Bashar al-Assad of Syria is taking a pretty myopic view of retaining political power! For the past two years he and the Syrian political establishment have been engaged in a ruthless battle for power with the loosely-defined but western-supported opposition rebel forces... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2014/thats-one-way-of-looking-at-it/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:36:35 GMT 3525 Alan Smith Many times in the classroom I have been asked a seemingly simple question. Is everything negotiable? For an answer, take a look at the current stand-off between the UK Liberal Democrat party and Lord Rennard. What a mess! https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2014/i-dont-give-a/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:36:35 GMT 3524 Stephen White There are interminable lists of top negotiating dos and don’ts available on the internet, in books, and on training courses. They mainly contain pieces of sensible, if obvious advice about how negotiators should conduct themselves. You may have read some of these lists, and you may even have been moved to try some of the tips. You certainly don’t need to see another one... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2014/hollywood-has-a-real-grasp-of-reality/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:36:35 GMT 3523 Alan Smith New Year’s resolutions. We all do them. Although I have to say come March time they tend to have disappeared unlike the food belly that sadly gets a little bit bigger and more stubborn with each passing decade. So what’s the point? I guess they give us a little bit of focus for what should be important to us following a couple of weeks off from the ever spinning, ever faster treadmill that we call life... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2014/new-years-evolution/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:36:35 GMT 3522 Robin Copland On the BBC news website in a move eerily reminiscent of Laura Ashley and John Lewis (see 28 March blog), it has been confirmed yesterday that department store Debenhams has told suppliers of its own brand products to cut their bills by 2.5% as a "contribution" to its investment plans”. It said it would deduct this from all outstanding payments on Tuesday night and would apply another discount of 2.5% to orders open on its system.... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2013/merry-bloody-christmas/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:36:19 GMT 3521 Alan Smith Today’s friend is tomorrow’s foe in this dynamic and complex world. Barely a day goes by without mergers, acquisitions, take overs (hostile or not) or promotions, that takes the guy you were managing and makes him your boss. How do we best manage our relationships to get the most out of them in this constant flux? Seems the best way of building rapport is to focus on what psychologists call ‘uncommon commonalities’... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2013/whose-side-are-you-on/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:36:18 GMT 3520 David Bannister “Please take your seats promptly after the coffee break” said the organiser at KPMG’s International Partners’ Conference in Cape Town in 1999. “We have a special guest”. Twenty minutes later the 150 or so of us at the conference watched Nelson Mandela, then approaching his eightieth birthday, walk slowly down the catwalk past us all and to the lectern in the centre. He carefully and deliberately read a prepared speech telling us how important it was for the city to be able to welcome such a distinguished group of international business leaders. It was a predictable address and I felt a little disappointed. “And finally…” he said as he folded up the paper from which he had been reading for ten minutes. There then followed an unscripted and fascinating twenty minutes when he spoke of the ANC’s accession to power in a democratic South Africa and how easy it would have been to settle old scores and seek bloody retribution for the years of racial oppression... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2013/only-free-men-can-negotiate/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:36:18 GMT 3519 Alan Smith The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has promised to compensate those left "out of pocket" after customers were unable to pay for purchases. RBS, NatWest and Ulster Bank customers making online and card payments were affected between 18:30 and 21:30 GMT this Monday. Bearing in mind that Monday was supposed to be the biggest on-line shopping day of the year (credit cards screaming with pre-Christmas purchases), this was indeed a big cock up. There were stories of students stranded in taxis they could not pay for, drinkers and diners with unpaid bills and mothers unable to buy nappies filling the morning news... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2013/sorry-seems-to-be-the-easiest-word/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:36:18 GMT 3518 Alan Smith Don’t just do something. Stand there. The legislation allowing the UK government to build a high-speed rail line between London and Birmingham is to go before Parliament. Apparently the bill stretches to over 75,000 pages and details, almost down to the last blade of grass, exactly what ministers would like to build. The bulk of the bill, almost 50,000 pages is dedicated to the impact the first phase of HS2 will have on the environment.... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2013/dont-just-do-something/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:36:18 GMT 3517 Robin Copland Scotland’s first minister, Alex Salmond has announced 24 March 2016 as the date for the country’s exit from the United Kingdom, should the Scottish people (or rather, those people resident in Scotland at 18 September 2014) vote for independence. It is a date redolent with historical significance for the historically-minded, for on that date in 1603, the union of the Scottish and English crowns took place and later, in 1707 on the same date, the Acts of Union were signed creating the United Kingdom of Great Britain... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2013/is-time-on-your-side/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:36:18 GMT 3516 Stephen White It is peculiar how news stories often converge and clash. Newspapers worldwide today report the court-hearing in St Petersburg yesterday which culminated in bail being granted to eight pro-environment Greenpeace activists who had attempted to scale an oil rig in the Pechora Sea in September. Also today, The Moscow Times reports on its front page that anti-terrorism exercises carried out in Sochi, the venue for the upcoming Winter Olympics, targeted pro-environment activists who are staunch opponents of the Games, detaining one of their leaders at an airport in the region for four hours on the grounds that he looked like a terrorist.... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2013/activism-and-negotiation/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:36:18 GMT 3515 Stephen White After the failure, albeit perhaps temporarily, of the negotiations in Geneva last weekend between the Iranian Foreign Minister and representatives of the superpowers over the future of Iran’s nuclear ambitions, US Secretary of State John Kerry gave an interview to the BBC. My interest was drawn to this extract... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2013/bracketed-language/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:36:18 GMT 3514 Alan Smith In many aspects of life one of the most important aspects is, wait for it, timing. A good gag, the perfect time to hit a volley, the lightest of soufflés, all require a mixture of patience, confidence and skill to get the best reaction from your audience, competitor or diners... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2013/remember/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:36:18 GMT 3513 Mike Freedman Like most sales people I talk about value first and price last. This week was no exception. My prospective client was considering courses for the company’s purchasing managers. The meeting was going very well, and when the quotation was requested I announced the total price for our three-day negotiating skills course upon which my much-interested prospective client asked…"is that the cost per day?"... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2013/be-careful-how-you-ask/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:36:17 GMT 3512 Robin Copland You have probably never heard of Grangemouth. Even its mother would be hard pressed to call it a pretty town, festooned as it is with tall steel chimneys belching fire into the night sky on the Firth of Forth about 15 miles west of Edinburgh on Scotland’s east coast. It is home to an oil refinery that accounts for about 10% of Scotland’s GDP and it is owned by a company called Ineos. You have probably never heard of it either, though it is Britain’s largest private company... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2013/two-faces-of-grangemouth/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:36:17 GMT 3511 Stephen White The Oxford English Dictionary defines charm as ‘the power or quality of delighting, attracting, or fascinating others’. It is a word which has been much used recently about the newly elected Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, in particular in connection with the speech he made to the United Nations General Assembly on September 24th. It is difficult to know how much the world’s perception of his charm is actually a reflection on the lack of this same quality in his predecessor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2013/charm-offensive/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:36:17 GMT 3510 Mike Freedman Before working with a powerful FMCG company in Europe I asked of the thousands of points of sale they have how many client relationships they lose every year to competing companies. The company proudly announced that last year they lost less than 1% annually to competition. I dared to suggest that 1% is probably not enough and that they need to lose more business. This did not deter them from working with us and here’s why... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2013/are-you-losing-enough-business/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:36:17 GMT 3509 Simon Letchford This week’s government shutdown makes both sides of politics look dreadful. A poll this week had Congress less popular than head lice and root-canal surgery. But, channeling Rahm Emmanuel, (“never let a serious crisis go to waste”), here are a few negotiating lessons to take from Washington’s latest home-cooked fiasco... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2013/negotiating-lessons-from-the-federal-government-shutdown/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:36:17 GMT 3508 Stephen White Big business has been on the losing side of a number of small skirmishes recently. Two recent examples. Two days ago Tesco lost a planning application to open a supermarket in the town of Hadleigh, Suffolk after local businesses raised £80,000 to pay for top advisors to present their case. And yesterday the village of Tecoma 20 miles outside Melbourne Australia, hit the international news in their fight to stop McDonald's opening a local branch. https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2013/the-battle-of-the-underdog/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:36:17 GMT 3507 Alan Smith Gordon Brown's, (the Labour parties former leader and British Prime Minister), former spin doctor has revealed how he regularly attempted to discredit the aspiring PM’s rivals by leaking stories about them to the media. In extracts of a memoir published in the Daily Mail last week, Damian McBride claims he smeared Labour ministers including Charles Clarke and John Reid during Mr Brown's bid to succeed Tony Blair... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2013/tread-softly/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:36:17 GMT 3506 Alan Smith You’ve got to feel a bit sorry for Ed Miliband. Not only does he have the physiognomy of a character from Wallace and Gromit, a brother who probably won’t speak to him, he now also has to deal with how the Labour party is funded and supported by the Unions under the watchful gaze of the whole country.... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2013/rumble-in-the-tuc/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:36:16 GMT 3505 Keith Stacey Sportsmen and women choke but apparently poker players "tilt". I came across this term in Nate Silver's excellent book the Signal and the Noise. Tilting is defined as over aggressive play brought on by a lack of perspective, or playing without discipline. A number of tilts are listed and could just as easily applies to negotiating... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2013/do-negotiators-tilt/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:36:16 GMT 3503 Simon Letchford I’ve always found it fascinating how many people who attend our negotiating skills training talk about how the techniques that work in the workplace have worked at home as well. There are, however, a few pitfalls for those who want to hone their negotiating skills in the kitchen, so I thought that I’d share a few domestic do's and don'ts, mostly learned the hard way... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2013/negotiating-bedtime-and-taking-out-the-trash/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:36:16 GMT 3501 Stephen White In the week when the UK Government failed to secure the agreement of Parliament to take military action against the use of chemical weapons in Syria, I read about an interesting phenomenon which might help explain this failure, and which should worry President Obama who remarkably has gone for the same high-risk strategy, in his case asking Congress before taking military action. https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2013/off-their-trolley/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:36:16 GMT 3504 Mike Freedman When we ask people to define negotiation on the Scotwork pre-course paperwork, purchasing people very often refer to “finding a middle road” or “common ground”. They deal every day with variables about which they and the people across the table feel differently and what they really mean is “let’s split the difference”. Sales people however refer to “persuasion” often as their all encompassing definition of negotiation. This persuasion they see as a unilateral process of changing the view of the other party in order to have them accept their offer or opinion. Salespeople often consider this to be an essential fundamental skill of their trade... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2013/if-you-feel-the-need-to-say-you-are-you-are-not/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:36:16 GMT 3499 John McMillan It is said that the two happiest times in a sailor’s life are the day they buy a boat and the day they sell their boat. I have a third occasion which beats even these. It is also said there are two types of sailors: those who like painting and those who like sailing. I fall into the latter category; maintenance is boring; sailing is fun.... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2013/all-at-sea/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:36:16 GMT 3498 Alan Smith I want you to try a little experiment. Think of a simple tune. Something like Happy Birthday to You. (The most performed song in the English language, incidently). Now find a colleague, friend or partner and tap out the song for them without telling them the name of the song. Do it once. Then do it again. And now once more for luck.... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2013/the-curse-of-knowledge/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:36:16 GMT 3496 Robin Copland Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport has, for the past month, played host to a pawn in the international diplomacy game, one Edward Snowden. Mr Snowden is a “whistle-blower” who, depending on your point of view, has courageously defended the rights of downtrodden untermensch the world over, or on the other hand has committed a treasonous offence so heinous as to be punishable by a lengthy spell behind bars – a spell so long that all kinds of keys may just as well be thrown down various drains... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2013/whistle-for-it/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:36:15 GMT 3495 Stephen White Do the Middle East negotiators have the skills to succeed? As talks begin in Washington between Israeli and Palestinian representatives – talks which both sides have described as negotiations – it is worthwhile considering their chances of success over the next nine months which is the timeframe they have given themselves. Past experience gives us little hope. The Oslo Accords and the Camp David Summit were both trumpeted as great opportunities, and both ultimately failed. There has been little talk between the parties since, at least in public. Is this because the Middle East problem is inherently insoluble, or because the capabilities of the parties are inadequate? https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2013/tragedy/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:36:15 GMT 3494 David Bannister ‘Of course!’ I hear you say, ‘lover of Mozart, GSOH, NS and follower of Yorkshire County cricket!’ That’s not what I meant, actually. I am wondering if there is a particular personality type who might make a more natural negotiator than other types do. I have to tell you that if you are compelled to read further, please do, but I am not going to give the answer to the question, because I don’t know it. I intend to try to find out, though... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2013/do-negotiators-have-a-personality/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:36:15 GMT 3493 Alan Smith Whilst I love the sight of a Chinese lantern drifting off aimlessly into a moonlit night on a lovely summers evening, I am not sure I will ever light one again. The apocalyptic blaze caused by one of these burning lanterns landing on the Jayplus recycling unit in Smethwick near Birmingham was captured live on CCTV. The resulting wall of flames could be seen from 80 miles away and the damage cost a reported £6 million. Not to mention the risk to life and limb bourn by the heroic fire service trying to manage the disaster. https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2013/careless-talk-costs-margins/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:36:15 GMT 3492 Robin Copland As early as May this year, Lord Mandelson, the former business secretary and UK cabinet minister, warned that “a cabal at the top of the Labour national executive was trying to exert influence”, and that the Labour leader, Ed Miliband “was storing up danger for himself and for a future Labour government over parliamentary selections”. The row had blown up because Unite, the largest trade union in the UK, and in a move reminiscent of the Militant Tendency’s tactics in the 1970s and 80s, had quietly been infiltrating local labour constituency parties with their members by paying their membership fees en bloc. The union had specifically targeted seats where a selection was coming up... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2013/united-we-potentially-fall/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:36:15 GMT 3491 Alan Smith George North is a big man. Currently on tour in Australia with the British and Irish Lions, North stands at 6 feet 4 inches and weighs in at 240 lbs. That is over 17 stones in old money, as my mother would say. He is also only 21 years old and a prodigious rugby talent. In the first test he scored a phenomenal individual try and in the second a thunderous tackle that sent the Wallaby Israel Folau back several meters...... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2013/north-goes-east/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:36:15 GMT 3490 Stephen White In a sign of unabated consumer demand at the luxury end of the market $29 million was paid yesterday at auction for a 1982 painting entitled ‘Untitled’ (that must have taken some deep thinking) by Jean-Michel Basquiat (who he?). The estimated price before the auction was $25 million. You can see the painting here: http://bloom.bg/14muexk. I must say that it reminded me of much of the recent oeuvre of Millie, my 3 year old granddaughter, in what the family have come to describe as her Nursery Period. I don’t claim to know much about art, but I can think of better ways to spend $29m... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2013/for-a-few-dollars-more/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:36:15 GMT 3489 Robin Copland Britvic plc is a big company. Last year, it sold 1.9bn litres of soft drinks and it employs approximately 3500 people. Brands include Tango, J2O, Robinsons as well as its eponymous mixer drinks. It has a Scottish-based rival called A G Barr plc, makers of the iconic Scottish drink, Irn Bru (made from girders!), as well as Tizer and other well-known brands. A G Barr is also a big player in the soft drinks market with a turnover last year of £237m... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2013/britvic-barr-destined-to-go-flat/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:36:14 GMT 3488 Mike Freedman Taking a position in a conflict makes its resolution more difficult. And the more witnesses there are to that position-taking the less the likelihood of a negotiated settlement. In Istanbul positions have been taken in the most public sense possible in front of a global audience and I am not alone in fearing that a settlement is unlikely in the short-term. One thing we learn from watching thousands of hours of negotiation is that people either act or dig in NOT because of a complicated array of issues but usually for a SINGLE issue. Conversely, where many issues are raised these are generally some form of rationalisation of a single need or argument, or even a smoke screen. In Istanbul, the protestors’ single issue is that they feel that the government interferes with their personal choices and freedoms. The government, beneath the watchful eyes of the passive majority, feels a need not to be seen to have given in.... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2013/sometimes-you-cant-park-negotiations/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:36:14 GMT 3487 Yannis Dimarakis After being the centre of attention for several months late last year, Greece has been mostly out of the international news. Indeed, some commentators have suggested that the economy might be showing signs of turning the corner; not exactly light at the end of the tunnel, but at least the tunnel has now come into view... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2013/golden-nightmare/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:36:14 GMT 3486 Alan Smith I have been struck this week by the resolute nature by which an elderly lady in Wales has stood firm in the face of massive pressure from some of the UK’s largest companies, and just how difficult it is to engage when the other side are simply not interested. Bit of background.... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2013/no-means-no/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:36:14 GMT 3485 Alan Smith There is no doubt that people are strange. You and especially me! A number of studies into social psychology in the 1960’s sought to look at how this strangeness affects the way we live our lives and conduct our affairs. In 1966 experimenters went door to door in a suburban neighborhood asking residents if they would agree to a huge advertisement reading, “drive safely” being erected in their garden. They were shown a picture of how it would look. Just so you know the photo showed a lovely home almost totally obscured by the billboard... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2013/why-we-can-be-persuaded-to-do-stupid-things/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:36:14 GMT 3484 Alan Smith Asking good questions that are tough, direct and specific is one of the key things we can do to improve the quality of our negotiation behavior and resulting outcomes. A study in the US tried to identify the best kind of questions to ask in a classic buyer seller relationship... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2013/stupid-question/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:36:14 GMT 3483 Alan Smith The UK Government announced last week, a string of reforms designed to change the way that prisons operate. One of the key areas is the way that prisoners earn privileges. Justice Secretary Chris Grayling said: "In the past, we've sent the wrong message. “From November, inmates must "actively earn privileges" and are being warned a simple absence of bad behaviour will "not be enough"... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2013/concessions-must-be-earned/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:36:14 GMT 3482 Stephen White As the death toll from the collapse of the Rana Plaza garment manufacturing building in Dhaka, Bangladesh approaches 400, the attention of the world’s press is focussing on the Western companies who buy merchandise from the manufacturers located in this and other similar buildings. Reports over many years have highlighted issues of sweated labour, pitiful wages, and the employment of young children. These are disgraceful abuses of human rights which buyers claim they were unaware of at the time, and appropriate noises about improving conditions for workers are made, only for the same allegations to crop up again a few months later... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2013/collapsing-worlds/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:36:14 GMT 3481 Robin Copland BMW used to do it. So did Mercedes. Porsche and Ferrari still do as far as I am aware, though it’s been a while since I checked. Then along came the so-called “budget” airlines and the tactic is back in vogue with a vengeance. It starts with a loud - gaudy even – welcome page on which there is loudly displayed a low figure. At the time of writing, the figure is £10. The word “cheap” appears and you are tempted along to the “flights” window. “£10” and “flights” together; it’s a heady mix that conjures up the golden age of travel together with cheap air fares, so you delve deeper. Mind you – the words “golden age of travel” and “Ryanair” are not comfortable bedfellows, but never mind; I live in Edinburgh – where could I go? What could go wrong?... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2013/add-on/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:36:13 GMT 3480 Claudio Cubito When the painter James McNeill Whistler was a cadet at West Point, he was assigned to draw a bridge in an engineering class. Whistler drew a spectacular bridge and included two boys fishing from it. His deliberate inclusion displeased the instructor, who ordered him to draw it again without the young fishermen on the bridge. Whistler did as he was instructed, but unwilling to completely stifle his vision; he drew the bridge again with the boys fishing from the riverbank. https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2013/creativity-should-be-embraced-not-quashed/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:36:13 GMT 3479 David Bannister Many words have been written in the past few days since the death of former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, some reflect her perceived greatness and others portray her as a class enemy. I cannot hope to emulate the lyrical heights to which some have soared in the press. I can, however, look back and reflect on the way she dealt with trade unions and specifically the National Union of Mineworkers in the 1980s. During that time I was an Industrial Relations Officer in a manufacturing factory situated in the middle of the South Yorkshire coalfield. Friends and neighbours were involved both practically and emotionally in all of the events of that memorable year from March 1984 to March 1985... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2013/thatcher-power-and-the-lessons-of-confrontation/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:36:13 GMT 3477 Stephen White A recent article in the New York Times draws a comparison between the physiological aspects of hearing and listening. In brief the author, neuroscientist Professor Seth Horowitz, says that the process of hearing works from our ears to an area in the brain which is automatically able to register and then tune out background noise. Listening, he says, is different; when our attention is grabbed the electrical impulses from our ears take a pathway to a different area of the brain, associated with computation. At a basic level this allows our defence mechanisms to fire up. We describe this as being startled – and this overrides the background noise and allows us to focus on what we are hearing and process it accordingly. That’s listening!... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2013/listen-up/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:36:13 GMT 3476 The Scotwork Team Over the weekend there were reports in the UK media that the multinational retailer Laura Ashley had written to its suppliers requesting an immediate 10% cost price reduction on all orders already agreed and contracted. The demand was accompanied by a statement that this would save Laura Ashley the need to review its supplier base – in other words, failure to agree would prompt such a review, and some suppliers would inevitably be delisted as a result... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2013/bad-behaviour/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:36:13 GMT 3475 Robin Copland The current financial crisis in one of the EU’s outposts, Cyprus, clearly exemplifies and demonstrates some undeniable negotiating truths... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2013/an-inconvenient-series-of-truths/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:36:13 GMT 3473 Mark Simpson Nervous negotiators may often be tempted to partake in a drop of “Dutch Courage” before entering what they anticipate will be difficult negotiations. Our advice is DON’T and it seems the United Nations now agree with us... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2013/dutch-courage-at-the-un/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:36:12 GMT 3472 Stephen White Shortly after taking office for his second term, President Obama announced that he would visit the Middle East to kick-start a peace process. That visit is scheduled for later this month, but there was speculation last week that it might be cancelled if the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, also recently re-elected, has not been able to form a coalition government before the Obama visit... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2013/the-critical-mass/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:36:12 GMT 3470 Alan Smith The British Prime Minister David Cameron said that the talks with John Kerry, the new US Secretary of State, would be so far reaching that it would be difficult to know where to start. I am sure he was joking. At least I hope he was..... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2013/we-dont-know-where-to-start/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:36:12 GMT 3469 Alan Smith Imagine you are very late home. And I mean late. You creep up the stairs at 3 am, placing your feet carefully at the extreme edge of each step missing that third creaky step. You push the bedroom door open and pad gently across the floor. Forget brushing your teeth, way too noisy. You can flush in the morning. As you remove your trousers too late you remember the coins in the back pocket. As they crash to the wooden floor your other half springs into action... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2013/im-not-telling/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:36:12 GMT 3468 Alan Smith Perhaps a better question might be, where’s the beef? The continuing furore about what actually is in our food took another turn when Findus had to withdraw all of their Frozen Beef Lasagne after it was discovered that the beef was actually horse. Neigh I hear you cry... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2013/whats-the-beef/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:36:12 GMT 3467 Stephen White The UK press this week has been obsessed with the story of Liberal Democrat MP and ex Cabinet Minister Chris Huhne who resigned his position after pleading guilty to a charge of Perverting the Course of Justice. For our international readers (UK readers can skip to the next paragraph) Huhne was caught by a speed camera in 2003, but his wife agreed to say that she was driving the car, and the speeding penalty points were allocated to her instead of him. As a result he didn’t lose his driving licence, although ironically just a few weeks later he did after being caught driving whilst talking on his mobile phone. In 2010, after press revelations that he was having an affair, his wife left him and in a fit of pique she told the police of the events seven years earlier. He was arrested, but strenuously denied the charge and used every legal device available to get the case dropped. He failed, and when the case came to court last Monday he finally admitted his guilt. The judge has indicated that he can expect a prison sentence... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2013/it-takes-two/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:36:12 GMT 3466 Gaëtan Pellerin Each of us has encountered this type of negotiator: A customer who threatens to give your business to a competitor if you don’t give in to what he or she wants. A family member or close friend who behaves as a victim, playing the guilt card. Or an angry boss when the outcome is not what he or she expected... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2013/negotiating-with-bullies/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:36:12 GMT 3465 Alan Smith Following the Christmas break, you could be forgiven for thinking this stands for Fat, Flatulent and Fund-less. It is however the classic human response to stress, flight, fight or freeze as described by Dr Steve Peters in his excellent book, The Chimp Paradox... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2013/triple-f/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:36:11 GMT 3463 Alan Smith Practice pays off. Rory McIlroy’s ride to immortality publicly entered a new phase this week with the official announcement of his sponsorship deal with Nike, reportedly worth over £20 million per year, whose equipment and apparel he will exhibit beside Tiger Woods, Nike’s first golfing icon.... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2013/practice-makes-almost-perfect/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:36:11 GMT 3462 Stephen White The most frequent request asked of Scotwork consultants is ‘Teach me how to know I have paid the right price’. It comes from a lifetime of self-doubt; that although the negotiated deal looks like a good one, satisfies the need, resolves the conflict, addresses the issues and falls within the levels of affordability, there is a demon nagging at the back of the brain. ‘Sucker!’ says the demon, ‘you could have done much better than that’... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2013/the-right-price/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:36:11 GMT 3461 Alan Smith When I was younger, so much younger than today - I would occasionally find myself in situations which I really struggled to handle. Let me give you an example. There was this particular chap, whom we will call Ian Sharples for the purpose of the story; he was 2 years older than me, considerably bigger, and to be honest, a bit rough-looking. Even his mother struggled to love him. https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2013/i-ll-tell-my-brother/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:36:11 GMT 3460 Stephen White Insensitive people have the reputation for being confrontational, in their negotiations as with everything else. They don’t come more insensitive than New York City taxi drivers. In a seasonal spirit of collaboration and goodwill, we offer this blog, which has been doing the rounds for some time now... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2012/a-guide-for-the-new-year/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:35:45 GMT 3405 Robin Copland When is a negotiation not a negotiation? When both parties involved admit that on the one substantive issue involved, there is no movement. Here’s the story. In March this year, a ticket inspector working for ScotRail, the main provider of train services in Scotland (I suppose you might argue that the clue is in the name!) reduced a passenger to tears. This was a first on Britain’s railways; normally it is late-running trains and cancellations that reduce passengers to tears, but on this occasion, sadly for Scott Lewis, the ticket inspector involved, he had got the whole thing completely wrong.... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2012/rmt-scotrail-talks-derailed/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:35:45 GMT 3404 Robin Copland They eat a lot of peanuts in NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory as a landing on Mars approaches. It is an old tradition that dates back to 31 July 1964 when Ranger 7, an unmanned space probe was due to approach the planet, take a few pictures on the way down, then crash onto the surface at breakneck speed. Bear in mind that only a year or two previously, President Kennedy had targeted the USA with landing men on the moon, then returning them safely to Earth by the end of that decade. You would have thought, would you not, that crashing onto Mars would have been well within the wit and capability of the good folks at NASA; sadly not. Rangers 1 through 6 had failed miserably in their various attempts to crash on the planet and Ranger 7 was their last shot at glory... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2012/they-eat-a-lot-of-peanuts-in-nasa/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:35:45 GMT 3403 Alan Smith A man on his Harley was riding along a California beach when suddenly the sky clouded above his head and, in a booming voice, God said, "Because you have tried to be faithful to me in all ways, I will grant you one wish."

 The biker pulled over and said, "Build a bridge to Hawaii so I can ride over anytime I want." 

 God replied, "Your request is materialistic; think of the enormous challenges for that kind of undertaking; the supports required reaching the bottom of the Pacific and the concrete and steel it would take! I can do it, but it is hard for me to justify your desire for worldly things. Take a little more time and think of something that could possibly help mankind."
... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2012/who-is-on-your-side/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:35:45 GMT 3402 Alan Smith On July 20th 1969, the late Neil Armstrong was the first man to step onto the surface of the moon. As commander of Apollo 11 his legend was secured by this act of endeavor, courage and ambition. His words as he left the Eagle have been recorded for posterity. ‘That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind”. These words were beamed to the millions of global viewers making it one of the most watched televised events in history... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2012/time-friend-or-foe/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:35:46 GMT 3411 Yannis Dimarakis The Hellenic government has been struggling over the last 6 months to finalize an austerity package demanded by its 3 creditors (i.e. the IMF, the ECB and the European Commission – know as the “troika”). The package’s aim is to ensure that the deficit will be checked and that public spending will be reduced to sustainable levels. These measures are never popular as they usually entail steep salary and pension cuts, reductions in social benefits, decrease in the quality of health and education etc. None the less, this package, worth 11.5 bn € (a very heavy figure given the scale of the Hellenic economy), was a sine qua non for the release by the creditors of the next installment of funds to the government in Athens. So the pressure was on to wrap this up as soon as possible... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2012/trading-opinions-vs-arguing/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:35:46 GMT 3410 Stephen White Abu Qatada is a Jordanian cleric. He is also an alleged terrorist. He was found guilty in a Jordanian court, in his absence, of committing terrorist crimes. He has lived in the UK since 1993, and until yesterday he was in custody in the UK. The British government have been attempting to deport him to stand trial in Jordan, but he claims that his human rights would be breached if he was sent home because some of the evidence against him has been obtained from witnesses who were tortured. UK and European law prevents a suspected criminal being tried in these circumstances. So deportation has been refused by the courts. On Tuesday he was released from prison, although he will be closely monitored, and protected. The UK government are hopping mad and have pledged to continue to fight to send him home to Jordan... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2012/not-going-home/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:35:46 GMT 3408 Alan Smith My friend’s wife found out that her dog (a Schnauzer) could hardly hear, so she took it to the veterinarian. The vet found that the problem was excessive hair in the dog's ears. He cleaned both ears, and the dog could then hear fine. The vet then proceeded to tell the lady that, if she wanted to keep this from recurring, she should go to the store and get some "Nair" hair remover and rub it in the dog's ears once a month... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2012/cross-purposes/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:35:46 GMT 3407 Alan Smith Years ago I got a call from a client with whom we had a long-term project-based relationship. We had submitted some creative work for a project along with a fee proposal. Our fee was in line with previous work, and we knew from our benchmarking alongside other creative agencies that whilst we were not the cheapest, we certainly offered great value. We had always scored highly against the client’s quality scorecards. My client contact told me that his procurement director had been reviewing marketing costs and was all over him like a cheap suit.... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2012/union-indeed/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:35:46 GMT 3406 Alan Smith On Sunday last week an Austrian skydiver, Felix Baumgartner, jumped from space. He set a world record for the highest jump, at 39km, and the fastest human free-fall, at 1,342km/h. Just to give some context, a Boeing 747 travels at about 917km/h. Pretty quick. The man broke the sound barrier. The planning and preparation that went into the event was staggering... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2012/you-better-be-ready/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:35:47 GMT 3415 Romana Henry My 14 year old daughter's volleyball team received new strips from their supplier this season (shorts and short sleeved shirts). New style, new material, not cheap! After their first match, the girls were mortified at huge black patches of sweat appearing under their arms - apparent to all, even without raising their arms! They rushed to cover their new strips up in between their first and second match. They then all whinged and moaned incessantly. Nothing new there, but this time with a reason. No previous strip had ever met with any such complaints... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2012/no-sweat/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:35:46 GMT 3413 Alan Smith I read a fascinating report that suggested that for many consumers adding more features to products actually has the opposite effect that the producer intended. It actually devalues the product. A piece of research published in the Journal Of Consumer Research, suggests that consumers adopt an averaging approach when validating the value of a product or service... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2012/the-negotiators-paradox/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:35:47 GMT 3414 Stephen White One of the most commented upon blogs we have posted this year is the one we published on the frustration many suppliers feel when they are in receipt of client RFPs. Comments came from suppliers in agreement of the sentiment and many buyers about the bias in the writing.... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2012/rfpeed-off/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:35:47 GMT 3416 Robin Copland There is more and more emphasis on the bottom line. Negotiators are getting ever more ruthless in their search for a “better deal” and sometimes the old “win-win” mantra is lost in the stampede. One of the tactics we see most often used by – and sometimes against – clients is the late introduction of a procurement specialist to a negotiation. In many cases, this person is introduced rather shamefacedly by the regular negotiator; the excuse is given that they are just there to cast a paternal eye over proceedings and check that the deal is watertight.... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2012/double-up-sir/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:35:48 GMT 3421 Stephen White Within the last few days the Obama administration have made it clear that they consider the use of chemical weapons by the Syrian Assad regime on their own civilians to be a red line. What they mean is that if the Syrian government uses chemical weapons, they will have crossed the red line, diplomacy will have come to an end, and military action will follow. Similarly, in neighbouring Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu has chided the US administration for not setting a red line on the subject of the Iranian development of nuclear weapons.... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2012/red-lines/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:35:47 GMT 3417 David Bannister "Put yourself in my shoes!" said trade union official who was role-playing to help some course participants practise their skills. I was reminded of this when, recently on holiday, I was reading a very enjoyable book called "The Bank of Dave". The book tells the story of a Lancastrian entrepreneur and millionaire called David Fishwick who decided that banks had all got rather too big for their boots and so he chose to open a bank of his own to service deposits and loans in his home town of Burnley (if you haven’t read it, it’s really good!)... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2012/in-my-shoes/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:35:47 GMT 3419 Alan Smith What colour is the sky in your World? It was expected that NASA, and by extension the U.S., would be the envy of the world after they successfully landed the Curiosity Mars Rover on the red planet this month. That envy could arguably be driven by the recognition that only a country of the size and wealth of the US could even contemplate the massive investment required to conduct such an effort... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2012/out-of-this-world/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:35:47 GMT 3420 Alan Smith Virgin Trains aimed to shake up the railway business when it took over the West Coast mainline. Now, having lost the franchise to FirstGroup, are they tasting sour grapes or being genuine in their belief that FirstGroup are unable to deliver on their pitch? https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2012/how-much/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:35:48 GMT 3427 Alan Smith When my kids were much younger we had a standard gag. I would ask them what time is it when an elephant sits on your fence? The answer was clearly time to get a new fence. Timing is indeed everything. A similar question could be asked right now with the World’s biggest sporting event still receiving plaudits from around the Globe (except of course the French), as perhaps the best ever Olympic games... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2012/what-time-is-it/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:35:48 GMT 3426 Alan Smith Over the last couple of months I have watched probably more sport than at any other occasion in my life. Much of it to be honest was sport I would not normally watch. Not necessarily because I don’t enjoy it, but because it does not get the coverage that makes it accessible. (Note to self, find out more about how to access women’s beach volleyball). https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2012/going-for-gold/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:35:48 GMT 3425 David Bannister Some years ago, I was teaching a management course in the Far East. My words were to be consecutively interpreted to the class so I had to send all my material for translation in advance. One of the exercises I used was a version of the ‘Prisoner’s Dilemma’, a game where the participants’ integrity is challenged and where they can be tempted to try to gain advantage over other participants by saying one thing and then doing something else to ‘win’ the game... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2012/trust-me-i-am-a-negotiator/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:35:48 GMT 3424 Sam Macbeth I’ve enjoyed watching the Olympics this week. I have also found the debate that has raged about the number of empty seats to be interesting as well. Disgruntled members of the public had tried and failed on several occasions to buy tickets – only to see that there have been numerous empty seats in the stadia during the first week of the Games. Several commentators have complained that LOCOG (the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games) have had “seven years to avoid this situation”. https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2012/threatening-behaviour/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:35:48 GMT 3423 Alan Smith There is no doubt that much of what we learn is from experience. In fact the university of life, with all of its hard knocks, creates valuable lessons. The key is do we adjust our behaviour on the back of what is thrown at us. This week I have been running a couple of training courses in Bangkok. My first trip to the area, and I heartily recommend it. Great food, wonderful weather (at least the rain here is warm) and the people are friendly and generous hosts. For the westerner in this part of the world another attraction is the markets... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2012/battle-scars-and-the-negotiator/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:35:48 GMT 3428 Stephen White There is a sweet story about an elderly man who is woken at 3.00am by his wife, who can hear strange noises outside the house. He opens the bedroom curtains and sees robbers stealing some of his stuff from the shed at the bottom of the garden. He calls the emergency line, explains what he can see, and asks for police assistance immediately. ‘Are they actually in your house?’ asks the operator. ‘No’, he says, ‘I’ve told you. They are in the shed at the bottom of the garden’. ‘We don’t have anyone available at the moment,’ says the operator ‘but we will send someone along within 2 hours’.... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2012/do-not-mess-with-old-men/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:35:49 GMT 3431 Alan Smith A mother passing by her son's bedroom was astonished to see the bed was 
nicely made, and the room clean and tidy. Looking more closely she saw an envelope 
propped up on the pillow.

It was addressed, 'Mum'. With trepidation, she opened the envelope and read the enclosed note with trembling hands. Dear Mum,
 It is with great regret and sorrow that I'm writing to you. I have had to elope with my new girlfriend because I wanted to avoid a row with you and Dad.

 I am crazy in love with Stacy, and she is so nice, but I knew 
you would not approve of her, because of all her piercings, tattoos, her tight Motorcycle clothes and because she is so much older than I am.... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2012/lesser-of-2-evils/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:35:49 GMT 3429 Alan Smith I know I am getting on but it used to be that along with the doctor and the local bobby, the bank manager was one of the few people in whom you could put your faith that he would do the right thing. He would sign your passport photos, offer sage words of solid advice about the mortgage and generally be seen to be one of the go-to guys when you really needed it. Not any more... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2012/trust-me-i-m-a-banker/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:35:49 GMT 3430 Robin Copland “Negotiating is a trading process whereby two parties can reach agreement by trading concessions”. So said a wise man many years ago and he was right. The great thing about negotiating is that it can enable two people in conflict to strike a deal despite their differences – be they commercial, cultural or even political..... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2012/the-sound-of-one-hand-clapping/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:35:49 GMT 3432 Noel Penrose This weeks BLOG is provided by one of the many Scotwork Alumni, Noel Penrose. If you would like to submit a BLOG for consideration please send it to info@scotwork.com. Thanks Noel. I bought a house a while ago. It involved the usual mix of practical and emotional decision-making, hand-wringing, uncertainty and hope that major purchases like this bring on. It took three months from start to finish, which seems like a reasonable timeframe. What made it a very interesting experience was the way the negotiation was conducted.... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2012/a-break-with-tradition/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:35:49 GMT 3434 Stephen White Paul Simon’s ’50 Ways to Leave Your Lover’ predated social media, so the lyrics don’t refer to exiting a relationship via SMS, iMessage, BBM, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, or any of the myriad others. Something like ‘It’s not you, it’s me. Hope we can still be friends’, which so conveniently comes in at under Twitter’s 140 character limit... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2012/tweetie-pie-a-dish-best-served-cold/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:35:49 GMT 3435 Alan Smith Makes you proud to be British. If there is one thing that we do well as a nation it is the pomp and circumstance that surrounds a royal event. This weekend just past was a perfect example of that. The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee was an out and out success – all this despite the inclement British weather (well what did you expect in June, sun?), the Consort’s illness, the lack of a Dimbleby on the BBC’s suggested dumbed down TV coverage and Paul McCartney playing "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" as his final number at the Jubilee concert (surely the worst Beatles track ever)... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2012/and-all-who-sail-with-her/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:35:49 GMT 3436 Stephen White My 93 year old mum-in-law came to live with us recently, and this meant that we needed to install a stair lift to get her to and from her bedroom on the upper floor of our home. It is now installed and working, much to her satisfaction. Doing the deal gave me food for thought. I did my research online – it looked like we were going to be in for about £2000 given the specification and size of the staircase. We selected three companies to come and quote; one which advertises nationally and is a household name, one selected from the internet, and one recommended by our local mobility store... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2012/stair-lift-to-heaven/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:35:50 GMT 3437 Alan Smith The psychological profile has been a weapon of war, espionage, diplomacy and negotiation since time began. Can we get inside the other side’s head and use that information to defeat him. Sun Tzu, the Chinese military strategist, believed that a firm understanding of the other side’s mental make up was a prerequisite for victory: “If you know your enemies and know yourself, you will not be imperiled in a hundred battles”... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2012/get-inside-the-other-sides-head/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:35:50 GMT 3439 Robin Copland There are interesting changes afoot in the relationship between France and the USA now that President Sarkozy – more of a Bush man than an Obama fan – has been replaced by President Hollande. He and Obama have much in common, including their centre-left persuasion and their shared background as university teachers. That said, one is American and the other is French so culturally there is much that separates them... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2012/jaw-jaw-not-war-war/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:35:50 GMT 3440 Alan Smith Can’t imagine there is much singing and dancing in the hallowed halls of the EU head office in Brussels at the moment. (Beethoven’s Ode to Joy is the theme tune, if that is the right phrase, for the European Union). The recent elections in France and Greece have thrown the Euro again into a crisis that may cause joy in many UK households as they plan their escape from rainy Britain, but seems to have riled the German nation, and particularly their sour faced leader Angela Merkel... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2012/ode-to-joy/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:35:50 GMT 3441 Stephen White Last week two RFPs arrived from international companies looking for our proposals and prices for training courses. Both made me mad as hell. If I had my way there would have been an Act of Parliament banning RFPs for anything more complicated than the purchase of paperclips. Corporations looking for the best creative ideas, because they have a negotiating problem or a need which requires the development of training or coaching, do themselves no favours by making potential suppliers go through the mechanical hoops demanded by an RFP. It is undoubtedly not best practice... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2012/rfping-in-the-wind/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:35:50 GMT 3438 Alan Smith Manchester City play Manchester United next Monday (30th April) in a match that should identify the team that will win the Championship. Both teams come to the end of a grueling and competitive season and both teams have 3 games left to play. Whichever team wins on Monday will be in pole position to bring the league home to Manchester. Manchester being the winner in both cases. https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2012/home-or-away/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:35:50 GMT 3442 Alan Smith The actress Goldie Hawn declared this week that her long-term relationship (they have so far not married) to Kurt Russell is based on the fact that they love the smell of each other. She claims it is the basis of their desire to be together. I know, I know, but before you dismiss it as another freakie deakie Hollywood attempt to create a bit of noise about nothing, think about it.... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2012/smells-a-bit-fishy-to-me/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:35:50 GMT 3443 Stephen White Bernie Ecclestone’s views promoting the Bahrain Formula One Grand Prix are quietly spoken, articulate, and morally reprehensible. There will always be a suspicion that his attitude is driven by money. Although the £25 million fee for the right to stage the race has already been paid by Bahrain to F1 and would be forfeit anyway if the race could not take place, the possibility of interminable and expensive legal action following a cancellation, together with the loss of all the ancillary revenue, must somehow be a factor... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2012/racing-to-disaster/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:35:50 GMT 3444 Stephen White The recently released movie Margin Call tells the story of a seminal moment in the general financial collapse of 2008. A fictional investment bank, probably a thinly disguised Lehman Brothers, discovers that its huge holdings of subprime mortgage bonds are worthless. If they are liquidated, even at virtually any price, the damage caused to the bank’s reputation by doing so will be irreparable. If the bank do nothing they will be bankrupt in days. The Board of the bank convene, in the dead of night, to decide a course of action for the following trading day... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2012/damned-if-you-do-damned-if-you-dont/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:35:51 GMT 3445 Robin Copland London 2012 has negotiators flexing their muscles all over the capital as we approach the final run-up to the Games. In The Times of Friday 23 March, I read that the head of the RMT union, Bob Crow, has broken off talks with the London Underground management team at the UK conciliation service ACAS. The RMT is the union that represents tube workers’ interests. The union is threatening strike action as a result of the latest proposals from the management team... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2012/digging-underground-towards-london-2012/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:35:51 GMT 3446 David Bannister Many of us can recall with fondness the original television series of ‘Star Trek’. Captain James T Kirk of the ‘Enterprise’ navigated his ship and all aboard her through many episodes threatened by belligerent aliens and inhospitable far-off worlds. To boldly go. Not a bad ambition for those of us sent out to get better deals... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2012/its-a-negotiation-jim/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:35:51 GMT 3447 Alan Smith Terribly difficult question. If you don’t know the answer that is. PC Stout was completely flummoxed when a cyclist he had stopped for (allegedly) running a red light in London turned on him and asked on what basis he was being challenged... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2012/what-is-the-basis-of-that/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:35:51 GMT 3448 Alan Smith I recently read an article written by the legendary copywriter Drayton Bird. He writes an amusing - and instructive - story about the time he was sent to a seminar in the US by his chairman. On his return, the chairman asked what he had learned. He thought for a moment, and then replied, "We must stop short term thinking and plan for long-term profits"... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2012/what-is-the-long-term-outlook/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:35:51 GMT 3449 Robin Copland A recurring theme when you read about Ryanair’s negotiations – be they with aircraft manufacturers or airport operators – are the words “breakdown of negotiations”. The confrontational style that the airline seems to employ should not necessarily be knocked. It continues to buck the trend and return excellent operating results, but, as it is discovering, its negotiating partners seem less keen than hitherto to bow down and accept the tough proposals that the airline puts forward... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2012/what-price/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:35:52 GMT 3450 Tom Feinson Back in the day and before agents rose to prominence, a footballer, having just made his debut for England, decided to ask his club manager for a pay rise. After all his stock was on the rise; surely other clubs, for example, would be interested in him? The unnamed manager’s response was unexpected... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2012/sick-as-a-parrot/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:35:52 GMT 3452 Alan Smith A sales director was playing a game of golf with the procurement director from his largest and most prestigious client. During the round the course ran adjacent to a small road. As the pair drove off on the 8th a hearse started to slowly make its way along the lane and would eventually pass the men... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2012/what-do-you-care/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:35:52 GMT 3453 Stephen White Two accounts clerks and their manager are walking to lunch when they find an antique oil lamp. They rub it and a Genie comes out. The Genie offers each of them one wish... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2012/out-to-lunch/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:35:52 GMT 3454 Alan Smith Appropriately in 2012 I was talking to a director of a communications agency who had been heavily involved in developing the messaging and communication platform for London’s successful bid to hold the Olympics back in 2005 All was looking good but still the actual presentations had to be made to the selection committee when the final decision would be announced... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2012/are-you-ready/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:35:52 GMT 3455 Robin Copland The two biggest world aircraft producers are Boeing and Airbus. These companies have enjoyed a duopoly for the past twenty years, according to Ryanair’s chief executive, Michael O’Leary. Ryanair currently operate 275 Boeing aircraft. The airline is the largest low cost airline in Europe. O’Leary changed Ryanair’s traditional business model to a low-cost model based on Southwest Airlines. He has since refined that model and famously trails what seem at the time to be outrageous ideas before implementing them and seeing them become part of the traditional way of doing business (scratch cards, paying for drinks and food on board the aircraft, credit card charges and the like)... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2012/competitive-stances-breed-competitive-stances/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:35:53 GMT 3456 Alan Smith Hard to believe but cricket just isn’t cricket anymore. The game that seemed for many years to define the concept of fairness and honorable play has slipped into terrible disrepute. The problems with match rigging and spot betting seem rife. It seemed to begin in Pakistan when three former Pakistan players - Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammed Aamir - were jailed over spot-fixing in the Lord's Test in England in 2010... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2012/thats-not-cricket/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:35:53 GMT 3457 Alan Smith Everybody should be advised to take at least two drink-free days a week, say MPs, who urge in a report that safe drinking guidelines should be revised because they are confusing. Even more confusing after a couple of beers! The House of Commons science and technology committee says awareness of the existence of the guidelines is high, but public understanding of what they mean is poor. More help is needed so that drinkers understand what a unit of alcohol actually looks like, so they can have an idea of how many units they are drinking in a pint of beer, glass of wine or shot of vodka... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2012/which-is-it/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:35:53 GMT 3458 Alan Smith The Christmas tree is hardly dethroned, the last mince pie still to be eaten and the coffee creams the only sweets left when the whole world seems to have shifted on it’s slightly larger and wobblier access. Pre Christmas it is all cookery programmes on TV, focusing on sweets, cakes and bakery. January the 1st arrives and FatBusters, The Biggest Loser and Get Healthy with Gino all hit the screen to fuel our disappointment with ourselves for the gluttony and monumental weakness of our seasonal selves... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2012/the-long-game/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:35:53 GMT 3459 Alan Smith Put aside all your thoughts and fears about conflict and negotiation. Delight in that extra slice of cake, enjoy that rather large glass of wine. For a few days revel in the season of goodwill... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2011/christmas-comes-but-once-a-year/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:34:32 GMT 3385 Stephen White As the invective from senior French politicians as a result of the UK’s negotiating position at the European summit last week becomes harsher, we should maybe ponder the wisdom that long term relationships benefit from Win-Win negotiating style... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2011/how-to-treat-a-loved-one/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:34:32 GMT 3387 Alan Smith In the late 1950s, a journalist asked incumbent British prime minister Harold Macmillan what he considered was most likely to blow his government off course. In an answer that has gone down in history — perhaps as much for its Edwardian construction as its content — Macmillan replied, “Events, dear boy, events.” This response hits at a fundamental truth. Things do change rapidly, and when one is least expecting them to do so... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2011/events-dear-boy-events/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:34:32 GMT 3388 Alan Smith On a flight from Glasgow on a cold November night I came across an article in the in-flight magazine about how to make more effective use of persuasion to get what we want out of life, business and family relationships. Warming advice indeed. The basic premise is that it is much more powerful to surround our persuasion with strong rationale in order to get people to do what we want them to do... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2011/the-art-of-persuasion/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:34:32 GMT 3389 Alan Smith Many of us will have heard of, and indeed donated regularly to the swear box. Indeed any attempt to keep swearing in public under control should be applauded. Peculiar then that a judge this week upheld an appeal overturning Denzel Cassius Harvey's conviction for repeatedly using the F word at police officers, Mr Justice Bean said officers were so regularly on the receiving end of the "rather commonplace" expletive that it was unlikely to cause them "harassment, alarm or distress". https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2011/spell-it-out/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:34:32 GMT 3390 Stephen White No matter how interesting and varied the job might be, most workers will tell you that after a time life becomes routine. For those who are office-bound the glamour of the international traveller looks enticing, but the traveller will tell you of the interminable boredom they experience during the process of flying. When I was a child someone told me that people who work in a sweetie factory could eat as many sweets as they wanted – every child’s dream; years later when I started work I spent a lot of time at the Cadbury factory in Bournville with people who were so bored with chocolate they never ate it; the availability of chocolate for them had become routine (although it never was for me!)... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2011/life-is-so-unpredictable/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:34:33 GMT 3391 Stephen White Genesis Chapter 18 might be an unusual source to derive some interesting negotiating techniques, but as they say in showbiz ‘the old ones are the best’. Chapter 18 tells the story of the downfall of Sodom and Gomorrah, on the shore of the Dead Sea, which were centres of evil. The Almighty decides to liquidate the twin towns, and tells Abraham of his intentions... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2011/sodom-and-gomorrah/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:34:33 GMT 3392 Alan Smith I have to declare a lack of interest here. The last time I placed a bet on a horse race was 1977 when I picked Red Rum to win the Grand National, which it did for a record 3rd time. I have no idea about racing and have no intention of finding a passion for it. But I was intrigued by the row between the Jockey Club, the British Horseracing Authority and the World Horse Welfare group that seems to have settled to a simmer last week when new rules were introduced that allowed all sides to walk away with their heads held high... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2011/dont-flog-a-live-horse/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:34:33 GMT 3393 Robin Copland In the Daily Telegraph of 2 October 2011, Robert Winnett, the newspaper’s deputy political editor, wrote an interesting short piece about David Cameron’s potential future plans for the UK’s long-term relationship with the European Union. For those who live outwith the UK, the Daily Telegraph is a right of centre “quality” newspaper, read in the main by a middle class audience, most of whom would be supporters of the Conservative party. It would be fair to describe it as “euro-sceptic” and it is famously against any more power leakage from the UK to Europe... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2011/it-s-good-to-trade/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:34:33 GMT 3395 Alan Smith If, like me, you have been following the rugby world cup finals, you will have spent the last few weekends glued to the TV at an ungodly hour watching the world’s best teams knock the hell out of each other in an attempt to lift the greatest prize in Rugby, the Webb Ellis trophy. If also like me you are a supporter of the England team you will also be familiar with the phrase ‘win ugly’. The phrase comes from Brad Gilbert, previously a mediocre tennis professional, who won ugly by disrupting his opponents using a variety of techniques from gamesmanship to relentless targeting the opponents weaknesses. Gilbert famously became the coach of Agassi and Sampras and helped them gain the psychological advantage in their game. https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2011/win-ugly/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:34:33 GMT 3396 Robin Copland Moses. Lad! Hill walker; leader of men; stone carrier and, when it came to water, he surpassed even his own ambitious targets. Had he been born in Scotland in the twentieth century, he would have been a natural hydro-electric engineer. He would have found the twenty-first century quite interesting as well as we Scots have an Eleventh commandment to add to his original Ten. Thirty one per cent of our energy needs will be supplied by renewable resources in 2011 and 100% is the target by 2020. This has led to a huge wind turbine building programme all around the country... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2011/hot-air/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:34:33 GMT 3397 Alan Smith An elderly couple, grumpily married for over 30 years, decide to have a week apart for the first time in their long suffering marriage. The wife travels to see her sister, leaving her curmudgeonly (great word, look it up) husband in charge of the house and much loved cat. Having arrived at her sister’s home, the wife calls her husband to let him know that she has arrived and to check that everything is OK back home... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2011/the-cat-is-not-well/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:34:33 GMT 3398 Mike Freedman I watched Manchester City’s Manager Roberto Mancini’s outburst straight after the Champions’ League game in which Carlos Tevez reportedly refused to go on to the pitch. Mancini clearly said that Carlo Tevez would not play for him again. In fact at one point prior to this outburst he had claimed that it wasn’t his decision. It just seems that later as he appeared to gain encouragement from the supportive comments of the BBC’s man holding the microphone, he went the whole way and declared his position on his Argentinean ex-captain. There are a few points of interest in the events both within and surrounding that interview... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2011/what-position-for-carlos-tevez/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:34:34 GMT 3400 Alan Smith Basildon Council in Essex has today sent notices to each of the 51 illegally occupied plots at the travellers' site at Dale Farm in Essex, following the injunction until Friday preventing bailiffs entering the site to clear the unauthorised plots. The council said the eviction could take place on Friday if their intended legal challenge to the injunction succeeds. Many of the traveller residents who had left the site are on their way back. Buoyed by the events of the last 24 hours, it seems that the precedent set by the extremely high profile legal kicking the council has taken may have caused a seismic shift in the power balance. Only time will tell... https://www.scotwork.gr/ενδιαφέροντα-στοιχεία/2011/get-it-right-first-time/ Thu, 12 Nov 2020 16:34:34 GMT 3401