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Traditional “dig in your heels” negotiations often lead to deadlocks and damaged relationships. Adopting interest-based bargaining allows you to move beyond rigid demands by focusing on the underlying “why” behind every proposal. By prioritizing mutual problem-solving over conflict, you can unlock creative solutions that satisfy all parties while maintaining long-term professional value.
This modern approach, promoted by negotiation theorists Roger Fisher and William Ury, provides a strategic framework for achieving win-win outcomes. Whether you’re navigating a corporate contract or a simple workplace dispute, understanding the core principles of interest-based bargaining ensures you reach more efficient, fair, and sustainable agreements.
Originally Published: September 24, 2019
Last Updated: January 12, 2026
Table of Contents
Why Interest-Based Bargaining?
In standard negotiations, the focus is often on coming up with a compromise on conflicting positions—for instance, splitting the difference between a union’s pay request and a company’s smaller offer. Fisher and Ury call this “dig in your heels” or positional bargaining. Such negotiations over firm positions often reach an impasse, waste time, and damage relationships.
As an alternative, Fisher and Ury propose interest-based negotiation (often called “win-win” negotiation) in their book Getting to Yes. This approach is based on getting to the titular “yes” while preserving your relationship with your counterpart through mutual problem-solving, empathy, and creativity. Instead of tossing arbitrary demands at each other, you focus on why you and your counterpart want what you want.
Positional vs. Interest-Based Negotiation
The following table illustrates the core differences between the traditional adversarial approach and the collaborative interest-based model:
| Dimension | Traditional “Dig in Your Heels” | Interest-Based Negotiation |
| Core Focus | Focus on what each party demands | Focus on why each party wants it |
| Approach | Adversarial; defending positions | Collaborative problem-solving |
| Process | Slow concessions toward middle ground | Creative solutions for underlying needs |
| Outcome Quality | Often suboptimal or unfair | Mutually beneficial outcomes |
| Relationship | Damages business/personal ties | Maintains and strengthens relationships |
| Emotional Dynamics | Emotions and substance get tangled | Separates people from the problem |
| Decision Criteria | Arbitrary demands and willpower | Neutral benchmarks/objective standards |
| Mindset | Zero-sum; limited resources | Explores ways to expand what’s available |
| Efficiency | Wastes time and energy | Efficient path to agreement |
The Power of Underlying Interests
Interests involve people’s needs, desires, fears, and concerns—they are the drivers behind the positions people take. Reconciling these interests works better than compromising on positions for several reasons:
- Multiple Solutions: For every shared interest, there are usually several positions that could satisfy it.
- Shared Goals: Behind conflicting positions, there are often more shared interests than conflicting ones.
- Complementary Needs: You may assume interests are in opposition, but they are often complementary. For example, a landlord wants a well-maintained property, and a tenant wants a fair rent; a deal could be struck where rent stays low in exchange for the tenant managing repairs.
A classic example involves two men arguing in a library over a window. One wants it open (for fresh air), the other wants it closed (to avoid a draft). The librarian resolves this by opening a window in an adjoining room. By focusing on interests (air vs. no draft) rather than positions (open vs. closed), she found a solution that satisfied both.
Similarly, the 1978 Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty succeeded because negotiators moved past positions on the Sinai Peninsula. Egypt wanted sovereignty; Israel wanted security. The solution—giving Egypt sovereignty while creating large demilitarized zones—addressed the underlying interests of both nations.
How to Identify Interests
Identifying interests is rarely as clear-cut as stating a position. It requires effort to uncover what is not always obvious. To keep your negotiation on track, follow these steps:
- Ask “Why?” and “Why not?”: For every position the other side takes, ask what needs or desires it serves. If they reject your proposal, analyze what they might lose (e.g., political support or group cohesion) by accepting it.
- Recognize Multiple Interests: Each side has a variety of interests. A tenant may want stable rent, but also the ability to have a pet.
- Understand Basic Human Needs: The most powerful interests are security, control over circumstances, and recognition. If a basic human need is at risk, negotiations will not progress.
- (Shortform note: In Never Split the Difference (2016), former FBI hostage negotiator Chris Voss explains why you must understand not only your needs, but also your counterpart’s: Voss writes that when you identify your counterpart’s true underlying need, you can frame your position as satisfying it for them. For example, home security companies sell peace of mind, not equipment; luxury brands emphasize exclusivity over technical specifications because customers are really seeking the emotional validation of status and superiority. Similarly, effective negotiators recognize that people’s stated positions often mask deeper psychological needs. By understanding those deeper motivations, you can present your offer in ways that resonate with what your counterpart genuinely values, making them more likely to accept it.)
Keys to Interest-Based Bargaining
To communicate interests constructively, Fisher and Ury recommend four key principles: 1) Don’t make it personal, 2) Identify your counterpart’s true underlying needs, 3) Let neutral benchmarks guide your agreement, and 4) Generate solutions that serve everyone’s needs.
- Be Detailed and Specific: Vague interests are easily ignored. Use details to add legitimacy, much like a patient describing specific symptoms to a doctor.
- Acknowledge Their Interests: Show that you appreciate their concerns. This demonstrates you are listening and helps lower defensiveness.
- Put the Problem Before the Answer: Explain your reasoning and interests before offering a solution. If you want trucks to slow down in your neighborhood, first explain the danger to children playing nearby, then propose the speed limit.
- Look Forward, Not Back: Avoid debating the past. Focus on where you want to go in the future to avoid making the other side defensive.
- Be Firm but Flexible: Be strongly committed to your interests and forceful about what is required to address the problem, but stay open to different options for reaching that goal.
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- Why the standard way of negotiating is completely wrong
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