In seminars, meetings, and negotiations, I can quickly tell which ones are the most successful people around the table. They are effectively silencing their own thoughts and learning as much as they can about their adversary’s world. They are the ones listening closely and taking notes. They are blank slating and gathering the pieces of the puzzle. (It’s important to note that they are not solving the puzzle. That comes later, with analysis, with burning the midnight oil.) They know that what is really said and what we actually hear during a negotiation is far more important than what we allow
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