Not ready to go the whole nine yards and make a commitment to build a Vested relationship with your business partner?
Getting to We: Negotiating Agreements for Highly Collaborative Relationships (Jeanette Nyden, Kate Vitasek and David Frydlinger) provides a simple-to-follow five step process that will help any company – regardless of size – establish a solid foundation designed to foster a more collaborative environment. And that thinking starts by providing tools and guidance for how you can shift from a What’s in it for Me (WIIFMe) mindset to a What’s in it for We (WIIFWe) mindset.
The WIIFWe mindset is the foundation of a Vested relationship; it is a change in social norms from WIIFMe approach. WIIFWe is the philosophical mantra forming the structure of a collaborative and trusting relationship. Once embraced, a WIIFWe mindset has the power to deliver a competitive advantage for the parties long after a deal is signed.
How so? The Getting to We mindset and process changes the goal of the negotiation from the deal to the relationship. In other words it revolutionizes and transforms modern agreement negotiations—because the relationship itself becomes the focus of the deal.
The old thinking says that when we talk about completing the deal, the point is to get the deal done, to “get to yes” in the most advantageous way possible for your company. Basically the deal is the thing, an arrangement that best serves your specific interest, at the lowest possible cost. And then you move on to the next deal.
That mindset is inadequate and ineffective for today’s economic and business realities. A new way of thinking about business relationships is needed, a new paradigm that can take you and your partners beyond the handshake and the initial yes to Getting to We.
Getting to We details a Five Step negotiation process based on the application of Vested’s proven WIIFWe business relationship approach.
The Getting to We Five Step process changes the goal of the negotiation from simply getting the deal done to forging a win-win partnership. Following the Getting to We negotiation process helps companies change how they view the relationship—by helping them embrace the WIIFWe mindset.
Organizations exploring a Vested business model can use Getting to We’s five steps to help create a highly collaborative relationship even if they are unable to follow all five of the Vested rules. This is because they recognize that collaboration can thrive when they look beyond simply getting the deal done to developing a long-term partnership based on the parties’ commitment to fundamental social norms.
The Getting to We Five Step negotiation process is instrumental in helping companies achieve long-term success as they pursue a Vested relationship.
The Five Steps are:
- Establish a Foundation of Trust, Transparency and Compatibility
- Creating a Shared Vision
- Establishing the Six Essential Relationship Principles
- Negotiating as We
- Living as We—Relationship Management
The subsequent posts in this series explore each of the Five Steps in detail.