Om Swami addressing a question in the teens/youth retreat.
The question is how to negotiate? The party that can walk away in a negotiation is always the strongest one. If you are willing to give up your stance then you are in a much better position to negotiate. There is no other way. Negotiation is only possible if the other person is willing to take a step as well. If they are not, there is no negotiation. Either you accept or reject. Negotiation is possible if the other person is willing to negotiate. You have to ask some very clear questions like what do they want to achieve? If they specify that what they want is not what you want then you must discuss to see if there is a middle way. If there is no middle way then negotiation cannot happen.
In negotiation, if you can let go and say that the outcome does not matter to you as much, then you negotiate effectively. If you cling and attach too much to your viewpoint or to the outcome then you would invariably turn blind to what the other person is saying.
Listen to this discourse by Om Swami on how to negotiate effectively.
