In the world of win-win negotiating, understanding “interests” is our first step because our goal is to reach an agreement that maximizes the interests of both parties and this is only possible if those interests are understood and communicated. But what is an “interest” and how does it differ from a position?
Interests are the underlying needs, desires, concerns, and fears that are important to you and lead you to become involved in the negotiation in the first place. Your interests are why you take the positions you do and your position is what you say you want. You may assume that you always understand your own interests and just need to discover those of the other party, but sometimes you may not be clear about your own interests. How could this be?
Well, sometimes interests may be an underlying emotional need that we are not even aware of. And new interests can be created during a negotiation if one party feels disrespected or undervalued leading that party to need to save face, punish the other party, or get away from them. So understanding what is driving us is important but even more common than not understanding ourselves is neglecting to ask enough questions in order to surface the interests of the party. “Why, why, why?” should be your refrain when starting a negotiation.