Introduction ince the end of World War II, in which the specter of nuclear war impelled the development of more scientific methods of conflict management, negotiation and mediation were re-invented into a more rational and acceptable form. In the process, however, the history of negotiation, a process that has always been and continues to be suspect, began to be further minimized or disregarded as irrelevant. The awareness of the evolutionary development and natural history of negotiative behaviors, however, offers an important and more complete perspective that allows practice style orthodoxies and heuristic biases that undermine practice effectiveness and competency to be exposed. Neglecting this history limits the future development of new negotiative approaches which are critical for the management of conflict in a world where the complexity of human decision making and collaboration are being ever more quickly revealed by advances in neuroscience and cognitive psychology.History of bargaining and negotiation There have been five discernible approaches to negotiative behavior that have evolved in successive periods of human history. Each form, or approach, reflects characteristic behaviors and strategies to manage the nature of the conflicts they have had to manage. First, in early human history, with the constant wars, the primal negotiation approach was focused primarily on survival. The second form came about in the 16th century, during the Renaissance. The internecine wars between city-states and the expansion of trade required approaches to negotiation to became more conscious and strategic. In the 17th and 18th Century, the Scientific Revolution and Enlightenment fostered a rationalist approach to negotiation that carried through until the early 20th Century. In the current fourth period, since World War II in the mid 20th Century, in an increasingly complex technological world, the rationalist approach to negotiation and mediation have been institutionalized and refined. And, emerging is a fifth, post-modern approach to negotiation based on studies in neuroscience and cognitive psychology which have challenged the premises of rational decision-making and necessitate taking account of peoples predictable irrationality in their decision-making.In each negotiation period, the purposes served, how people have viewed the process, their willingness to negotiate, and the predominant strategies and techniques developed and employed have been adaptations to the social, cultural, and political environment of the time. In the course of the evolution of negotiation behavior and rituals, negotiation and mediation practice has become an increasingly more conscious and intentional activity. Each approach has incorporated the strategies and techniques of the earlier forms and present day negotiations, regardless of dispute context, reflects strains and visible traces of many, if not all, of the prior forms of negotiation practiced in earlier centuries. Few strategies or tactics have become extinct and many so called primitive, or outmoded, tactics remain relevant or have been refined and adapted for current use.Primal NegotiationIn early history, especially in the absence of any semblance of a central governing authority, warfare and mayhem between rival groups or tribes was common and largely unchecked. This was the all against all world Thomas Hobbes described inThe Leviathan(1651). Negotiation, was very much in evidence, although rudimentary in form, not too many steps removed from the conflict management behaviors of other animal species used to end fights. Similar in purpose, the focus of this negotiation approach is to serve the human instinct to survive and every war or hostile action must be brought to an end if that is to happen. This primal form of negotiation is largely unschooled and more reliant on visceral instinct than a planned, overtly conscious activity.Contrary to popular thinking, war and negotiation are not polar opposites, or necessarily, an either/or proposition. If not symbiotically related, they are complementary to each other. Throughout history, they have often been indistinguishable from each other; some people consider warfare as an extension of politics, or negotiation by other means, and alternatively, view negotiation as a form of warfare. The more severe the human aggression, the greater the need will be, at some point and in some manner, for a cooperative cessation of the hostility to re-stabilize the relationship, or just survive. Even vengeful blood feuds and protracted conflicts must end at some point. And, sidestepping the discussion of whether warfare is an innate human trait, there is no getting around the ongoing inevitability of conflict between people, some of which threaten to become violent.Strategic NegotiationThe active use of strategic thinking, conscious and intentional planning directed toward manipulating people and circumstances to bring about a desired outcome became a core element of negotiation in the course of the 16th Century Renaissance. This period was tumultuous with the Catholic Papacy instigating wars against many of the Italian city-states, while, at the same time, other foreign powers were also battling for influence and control. Political and military alliances shifted continuously. This time was also a period of burgeoning commerce and economic growth with the accompanying political intrigues which required people to develop a heightened awareness of the actions and motives of those around them and to assess who were potential allies and who were enemies. Success, and sometimes survival, depended on the ability to anticipate and counter deceptions, and alternatively, to be strategically deceptive for their own protection and advancement.Shakespeares 1596/98 play,The Merchant of Venice, conveys an apt sense of the business twists and turns and the fierceness of negotiations during this period, centering on a loan deal gone bad between a wealthy Venetian merchant, from whom the Jewish money-lender Shylock seeks to collect his pound of flesh under the terms of the agreement. In this social and political climate, Nicolo Machiavelli wroteThe Princearound 1512, which would become one of the most important texts relevant and apocryphal to the nature of negotiation practice to the present day. His writing offered a foundation for the discussion of leadership, decision-making, and the exercise of power in every century thereafter. The phrase most notably associated with Machiavelli is, the ends justifies the means. His name since then has alternatively been reviled as a cynical, opportunistic, political realist, willing to act without scruples, or as a civic humanist, merely seeking to teach people to recognize the deceptions behind good appearances in order to be on guard and prepared. This tension between reason and honesty on one hand, and the necessity for strategy, games and deceptions in politics, business, and life, remains as vital and relevant today as it was 500 years ago, and even frames the discussion of the role and ethical duties of negotiators and mediators in the present day.Early Modern Rationalist NegotiationAs a result of the Scientific Revolution of the 17th Century and the subsequent Enlightenment of the 18th Century, how people in the Western cultures viewed the world around them shifted dramatically. And, while this shift originated in the study of physical phenomena, it was rapidly extended to the study of politics, society, and therein, conflict. The quest for the truth, previously pursued by and through religious faith, was supplanted by a faith in reason, and now began to be pursued by and through rational thinking. Negotiative behavior and practice came to be viewed as a rational enterprise.Rene Descartes, a French mathematician and philosopher, was one of the earliest purveyors of rationalism. His famous dictum, cogito ergo sum, I think therefore I am, emphasizes the importance and the superior value of objective knowledge, as opposed to the subjective knowing of how the world works. Within a hundred years, in 1687, Issac Newton would confirm this paradigm shift in his monograph,The Principia, providing mathematical formulas for the precise and predictable measure of principles of mechanics, gravitation and motion. In subsequent centuries, Newtons formulations have led many to believe there are similar immutable laws of nature that extend beyond physical phenomena and apply to human behavior and interactions as well. All that remains is to discover those principles and apply them. To apply principles of reason to society would be the work of Voltaire and other philosophers of the Enlightenment.The collective power of their work gave rise to the Myths of Truth and Rationality, which still undergird Western Culture to this day. As Isaiah Berlin, the noted 20th Century historian and philosopher observed, there are three premises, not necessarily true, but which are widely accepted as fundamental to the Western canon of thought: 1) for every problem or question, there is right and truthful answer; 2) that right answer is discoverable; and, 3) there is only one truth. (Berlin, I., ed. H. Hardy, The Crooked Timber of Humanity, 1998; Benjamin, R.D., The Physics of Mediation: Reflections of Scientific Theory in Mediation Practice, 1990) As myths, they are not lies per se, but rather, stories of significance people use to make sense of the world around them. Many came to believe that conflicts could easily be resolved by the power of reasoned thinking and discussion.Modern Techno-Rational NegotiationIn the mid 20th Century, after World War II in the wake of Hiroshima and Nagasaki under the threat of a nuclear World War III, the principles of the earlier rationalist negotiation approach were studied with renewed vigor and intensity. The classic film,Dr. Strangelove(1964), starring Peter Sellers as a deranged German scientist who accidentally-on-purpose starts a nuclear war, captured the mood of the time. The nuclear threat congealed into the geo-politics of the Cold War that pre-occupied much of the world as either players or pawns, between 1949 and 1989. There is no question but that it was fertile terrain for those interested in negotiative processes; people suddenly became serious about exploring alternatives.Negotiation began to be approached as science. The process was effectively militarized and industrialized. Game theory and computer modeling were wed to the study of negotiation and warfare strategy. Academic and military think tanks, one of earliest of which was the Rand Corporation in 1948, were formed to study, among other things, war and negotiative strategies. They postulated the doctrine of Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD), perhaps the ultimate refinement of the primal negotiation tactic of the ultimatum. Those nations with nuclear arms clearly have the bargaining advantage against those who do not and are in a position of power better able to make demands and set terms for others. And, against others similarly armed, to counter any threat with equal force.Post-Modern Rationally-Irrational NegotiationThe present day conflicts and issues are more complex and level of antagonism between people more strident than at any time in recent memory for three reasons: 1.) many of those issues present wicked problems that are difficult or impossible to solve because of incomplete, contradictory, and changing requirements that are often difficult to recognize and often harbor unintended consequences; 2.) both the experts and people in general feel a loss of control; and 3.) people are more becoming more aware that reason and rational problem solving methodologies, as they have traditionally been applied, are insufficient. (Rittel, Horst, and Webber, Melvin, Dilemmas in a General Theory of Planning, 4 Policy Sciences 155-169, 1973; Wikepedia Overview; Kahneman, Daniel and Tversky, Amos, Choices, Values and Frames, 2000,The scarcity of resources, climate change, and faltering economies, are just some of the most apparent macro issues of this kind, but there are aspects of wicked problems in many community, healthcare and interpersonal disputes as well. (Tenner, Edward, Why Things Bite Back:Technology and the Revenge of Unintended Consequences, 1996, Taleb, Nassim N., Fooled By Randomness: The Hidden Role of Chance in Life and in the Markets, 2005; Berwick, Donald, Escape Fire: Designs For the Future of Healthcare, 2004)As with all issues, and especially complex ones, the level of stridency is made more intense by communication breakdowns. While the internet has dramatically increased the technology of communication, it has also become a source of miscommunication by the reductionist oversimplification and fragmentation of multi-variate issues. Before the advent of Chaos Theory, Fuzzy Logic, and Quantum Theory, as a culture we had allowed ourselves to believe that any issue could be solved by science and technology; there was comfort in the notion that the principles of certainty and predictably were intact. Since then, we have been collectively shaken by the realization that there are often multiple possibilities in outcome over which humans have limited control and about which there is frequently little agreement about how to proceed. In short, while Issac Newton offered precise formulas for the calculation of predictable and certain outcomes of observable events, like the rate of fall of an apple from a tree, the behavior of subatomic particles refuse to follow those laws of nature, once thought to be ironclad and certain. The complex issues of the present day tend to follow the more chaotic patterns of subatomic particles rather than falling apples. There is no precise formula available by which to solve wicked problems and, importantly, we cannot expect to necessarily think, or reason, our way out of such complex difficulties.

Relevance of bargaining and negotiation to HREveryone should be a good negotiator. Being able to negotiate effectively helps you reach agreements, achieve objectives, get along better with people, and ultimately be more productive and successful on the job.Bargaining and negotiation is something everybody is familiar with. It's something you use all the time in your work as well as in your personal life.For example, you might negotiate with your co-workers about who will do what and how jobs you work on together will be done. You might negotiate with your boss about a work or vacation schedule.And after work, you go home and negotiate with your spouse over who makes dinner and with your kids over chores. If you make a big purchase like a major appliance or a car, you may have to negotiate the price, too.Whether you're always aware of it or not, you spend a significant part of your day negotiating. That's why good negotiation skills are so important.The purpose of bargaining and negotiation is to achieve agreement through discussion and compromise. It is different from arguing because you're not just trying to persuade another person you're right and they're wrong. You're trying to achieve an objective -- to get something you want or need.When you think of it that way, you see why you spend so much time negotiating. In most cases, you can't just take or demand what you want or need. You have to reach agreements with other people to achieve your objectives.Bargaining and negotiation is also about: Building, Maintaining, and Improving relationships.People often think negotiation is just about a method of getting their way. But it's much more than that. It's really all about how we get along with other people.

ConclusionThe understanding of negotiative behavior is being stymied by a lack of awareness of the evolution of those behaviors and their natural history. Assuming the practice of negotiation has effectively begun in the last 50 years seriously compromises the dynamic development of negotiation that has preceded practice in the present day, and continues to directly influence that practice. The way people negotiate and mediate conflicts reflects strategies and techniques that have been cultivated over many centuries. Too often, past tactics are simply dismissed as primitive and outmoded, and yet they continue to be displayed with regularity. Their ongoing use suggests a continued evolutionary purpose and relevance. Few strategies and techniques have gone extinct just because a new practice style or approach has been announced.

References:Camp, Jim. (2007). No, The Only Negotiating System You Need For Work Or Home. Crown Business. New York, NY.Movius, H. and Susskind, L.E. (2009) Built to Win: Creating a World Class Negotiating Organization. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Business Press.

Roger Dawson, "Secrets of Power Negotiating - Inside Secrets from a Master Negotiator" Career Press, 1999.Davrde, Alberto L.Negotiations, Secret,Max Planck Encyclopedia of Public International Law