Getting More: How You Can Negotiate to Succeed in Work and Life

by Stuart Diamond

involved? Step 4 helps you figure out what happens if you can’t make a deal. Some people like to use the acronym BATNA, or Best Alternative To a Negotiated Agreement. But this term too often leads people to be too willing to walk away without achieving their goals, because they focus on the best option. If you want to review walkaway options, use WATNA, or Worst Alternative To a Negotiated Agreement. It shows the risks of not achieving an agreement. Better yet is to think about all the other alternatives, from best to worst, and the likelihood of achieving each. You want to be realistic. Another less useful term is “bargaining range,” described as the range between the most the buyer will pay and the least the seller will accept. Good negotiators can change the bargaining range—for example, by trading items of unequal value. They can focus on intangibles, come up with creative framing, and use some of the other creative tools from this book to change the situation. Most people assume the bargaining range is fixed and centers on money. That