And it usually leads to better working relationships and to mutual benefit in the future. Five Barriers to Cooperation Skeptics are quick to point out that all this is easy to say, but hard to do. It is all too easy to get drawn into a ferocious emotional battle, to fall back into the familiar routine of adopting rigid positions, or to let the other side take advantage of you. There are real-world barriers that get in the way of cooperation. The first barrier lies within you.
Human beings are reaction machines.
When you're under stress, or when you encounter a NO, or feel you are being attacked, you naturally feel like striking back. Usually this just perpetuates the action-reaction cycle t hat leaves both sides losers. Or, alternatively, you may react by impulsively giving in just to end the negotiation and preserve the relationship. You lose and, having demonstrated your weakness, you expose yourself to exploitation by others. The problem you thus face in negotiation is not only the other side's difficult behavior but your own reaction, which can easily perpetuate that behavior.