Irrational Negotiators and Enterprise Architecture

In Working Knowledge for Business Leaders by Harvard Business School, in the article “Dealing with the ‘Irrational’ Negotiator” by Malhotra and Bazerman (3 October 2007), the authors identify three reasons why people may appear irrational in negotiations, but actually be quite rational.

1. Uninformed—“Often, when the other side appears irrational, they are in fact uninformed. If you can help educate or inform them—about their true interests, the consequences of their actions, the strength of your BATNA (Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement), and so on—there is a strong likelihood they will make better decisions.”
2. Hidden Constraints—“In negotiation, a wide variety of possible constraints exist. The other side may be constrained by advice from her lawyers, by the fear of setting a dangerous precedent, by promises she has made to other parties, by time pressure, and so on.”
3. Hidden Interests—“More generally, people will sometimes reject your offer because they think it is unfair, because they don't like you, or for other reasons that have nothing to do with the obvious merits of your proposal. These people are not irrational; they are simply fulfilling needs and interests that you may not fully appreciate.”

Malhotra and Bazerman make the case that “your options greatly increase when you recognize that the other party is not irrational, but simply uninformed, constrained, or focused on interests that you did not anticipate. And as you know, the more options you have, the more effectively you will negotiate.”

In User-centric EA, architects have to cooperate, collaborate, and negotiate with leadership, subject matter experts, end-users, and stakeholders in building and maintaining a meaningful and viable architecture for the organization. By recognizing and understanding people’s point of views (i.e. “where they are coming from”), including their level of understanding (or lack), their constraints (for example, resources, time, or even interest), and their personal interests (or “hidden agendas”), we can work better with others to advance the enterprise architecture for the benefit of the organization.

Irrational Negotiators and Enterprise Architecture