Great Movie showing negotiation techniques.

Rating: 10/10 (3 November 2019)

The movie "12 Angry Men" provides an effective illustration of how effective negotiation can be led and carried out. It was a demonstration of skillful negotiation technique that by judge 8 that allow him to achieve success.
The key takeaway is to always understand the perspective of the other party. As mentioned by Sebenius in the book "Getting to Yes", people tend to be hardwired to focus on their own position in an argument (2001). Over-commitment to this position will tend to lead to self-serving bias, where information is unconsciously interpreted in a self-serving way. This is especially so when they do not understand the different perspectives. As seen in the 12 Angry Men, understanding the perspective of the other party is key to a successful negotiation (Fisher, Ury, & Patton, 2011). In the movie, all the jurors have the common interest of wanting justice to be served. Juror 8 understood this and utilized it to his advantage. He asked for a discussion and was able to understand the other jurors' decision-making thought process. This allowed him to address the key issue directly, seen by his questioning of the witness's ability to hear in the presence of a passing train (Jurors 5 and 6) and rationalizing the boy's weak alibi (Jurors 4). This allows for the reduction of the area of conflict, increasing support for his argument. Fundamentally, Juror 8 was able to convince the other jurors by appealing to their shared interest of wanting justice to be served and addressing their concerns. This could only be achieved by understanding the different perspectives.