Madan Pillutla's tips for negotiations

Professor Madan Pillutla from the London Business School talks about  negotiating skills and climate change at MindRush 2013.

The Professor brings in the topic of emotion in negotiations. "If the display of emotions is strategic, it will be sooner or later seen as disingenuous and harm the negotiation. If genuine, it compromises decision-making accuracy." For example, threats made when you are angry, he says, can be dangerous.

Pillutla says people pick the fairness principle that gives them the best outcome. He says that a lot of the intractable conflict in the world is because of the egocentric approach 'we are right, they are wrong'.

Pillutla says, "It is important to figure out what the other party wants and values, and give it to them ... at a price."

Pillutla gives a negotiation tip: Be yourself, but with a little bit more skill.
It's the same with body language, he adds.

On negotiating with people, Pillutla says if you trust someone, it's more likely they will trust you. It is beneficial in negotiating. He suggests that the next time you negotiate, take a chance with trust.

Pillutla terms India as a villain in climate negotiations. "India is now the third biggest polluter. But if you look at the per capita emissions, it is one tenth of the US."