Negotiation Theory for Geeks

Leslie HawthornRed Hat

@lhawthorndevconf.cz 2013

http://www.flickr.com/photos/joi/5348068433/

“The projects that have been the most successful... are good at all sorts of ‘soft skills’” David Eaves

Negotiations in FOSS Projectsa.k.a. “Why we’re all here today”

● Mailing list discussions● Bugs marked as “won’t fix” then reopened● Patch reviews● Bug triage● Roadmap creation / feature prioritization● Personal grievances

Harvard Negotiation Project

Several books in this ‘series’ including

● Getting to Maybe● Getting Past No● Getting Together:

Building Relationships as We Negotiate

Image Source: amazon.com

See http://hawthornlandings.org/2011/08/02/negotiation-avoiding-the-vale-of-suck-starts-with-you/

Having conversations with your friends is easy

See http://hawthornlandings.org/2011/08/02/negotiation-avoiding-the-vale-of-suck-starts-with-you/

We needlessly assume other conversations must be painful

Be Willing to

Askfor What

You Need

● Ask the other party what they needto be successful

● Find common ground● Reach agreement● If you cannot reach agreement,

find the most optimal solution for both parties

● It is OK to not reach agreement

Practice Radical Honesty

Radical honesty ! =

being a tactless jerk

Behaving Diplomatically

…is not the fine artof being disingenuous.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jonnygoldstein/4564003386/

Focusing on outcomes instead of goals precludes finding more optimal results

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Do you want

to be right?

~ or ~

Do you want

to win?

Ways to WinUsing Objective Criteria to Reach Agreement

● “Health and safety standard requirements require that we build in at least two drains ....”

● “The Kelly Blue Book listed value for this car is 10000 USD less than the price quoted ....”

● “We may be too close to this topic to effectively understand each other’s point of view. A mediator would be helpful ....”

Your Project: Creating Ways to WinObjective Criteria for Software

● Conforms to style guide● Passes unit tests● Provides full test coverage● Modding up feature requests / bugs in the issue

queue

Effective Communication Builds Relationships

http://www.flickr.com/photos/83665349@N00/5260961635/

See http://hawthornlandings.org/2011/08/02/negotiation-avoiding-the-vale-of-suck-starts-with-you/

Having conversations with your friends is easy

When You Cannot Reach Agreementa.k.a. The Power of a Positive No

BATNA:

Best Alternative to No Agreement

● What compromise can be effective for both parties?

● How can the relationship be preserved?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/maureendidde/4898190424/

Solicit Commitment

● State explicitly planned next steps

● Ensure both parties understand what is expected of them

● Call people on it – gently – when they don’t follow through.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/toolstop/4546008967/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/quinnanya/8043812614/http://www.flickr.com/photos/quinnanya/8043812614/

Practice Radical Empathy

How To: Communicating Successfully

● Listen to Other’s Viewpoints● Mirror / Paraphrase Their View● Acknowledge Their Interests● Affirm Their Goals● Create Agreement or BATNA

The Only

SecretYou Need

The secret to being an effective community leader is

genuinely caring about the health and well being of your project,

your community members, and your fellow human beings.

…even especially when they annoy the crap out of you.

Leslie Hawthorn — @lhawthornhawthornlandings.org

Questions?

Thank you!

Resources

● Randy Pausch’s Last Lecture: http://www.cmu.edu/randyslecture/

● David Eaves’ Blog: http://eaves.ca/

● The Center for Non-Violent Communication: http://www.cnvc.org/

● The Harvard Negotation Project: http://www.pon.harvard.edu/category/research_projects/harvard-negotiation-project/

The Legal Bits

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Commons license or considered fair use.

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