How to negotiate with liars - 5 Steps (part 2)

Fellow primates, today I wanted to share a few more insights from Professors Malhotra and Bazerman on negotiating with people who lie. In my last blog post, I introduced the topic and shared some insights on what one can do before the negotiation process to limit the other party’s temptation to lie.

Since lying is such an interesting concept (let’s face it, everyone does it), I wanted to build on the last post and share some things that one can utilize during the process to ensure better decision making during negotiations.

Strategy 1: Gather information from multiple sources

Simple enough. The authors claim (and rightfully so) that deception comes from information asymmetry. There are things that the other party knows that you cannot possibly know from just talking with them. Since information asymmetry is the root of all deception, one has to gather information from all sources to ensure that they are not vulnerable. This means doing your research repeatedly as the process moves forward (as opposed to just once when the process starts). In short, talk to as many people as you can, Google as much as you can throughout the entire process.

Strategy 2: Set a trap

If you’re concerned about the morality of an individual that you’re in discussions with, Professors Malhotra and Brazerman suggest asking the other party a few questions that you already know the answers to and evaluating their responses. The questions that you ask, obviously, have to be something where the other side will have an incentive to lie.

Strategy 3: Triangulate on the truth

If you have a gut feeling that someone may be lying when you ask them a specific question, you may have to ask a few related questions to sort of triangulate on the truth. The more questions you ask people, the harder it is for them to remember their lies and give consistent answers (unless they’re telling the truth). If your counter party is unwilling to answer your related questions, you should be a little suspicious.

Strategy 4: Look out for responses that do not answer the questions you asked

The authors claim that most people do not like to lie but are usually very comfortable with you being deceived. People will go to great lengths to not tell you something that is completely false but are okay with misleading you indirectly with their response. One should ask focused questions and listen carefully to ensure that the question that is asked is answered and that the other party has not gone on a tangent.

Strategy 5: Use contingency contracts

If you have the power, you should try and negotiate contingencies in your contracts. For example, let’s say that you are unsure of whether or not a person is lying to you but need to sign a contract quickly because of a time sensitive deal. The authors state that by suggesting a contract with contingencies (depending on what you are negotiating), you are asking the other person to put their money where their mouth is. If the other party is unwilling to agree to a contingency contract, it may be a sign that they are lying.