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30 FEDA News & Views raised when both sides are closing in on the same time dead- line, as was the case in Haiti. Think of this in terms of you renewing your offi ce lease for example. Let's say that your fi ve-year lease ends in six months, and you must negotiate a renewal with your land- lord. You might think to yourself, "I'll use time pressure on the land- lord to get the best deal. I'll wait until the last moment to negoti- ate with him. That will put him under a lot of time pressure. He'll know that if I move out the place will be vacant for several months until he can fi nd a new tenant." That appears like a great strategy until you realize that there's no difference between that and the landlord refusing to negotiate until the last minute to put time pressure on you. So, there you have a situation in which both sides are approaching the same time deadline. Which side should use time pressure and which side should avoid it? The answer is that the side that has the greatest power could use time pressure, but the side with the least power should avoid time pressure and negotiate well before the deadline. Fair enough, but who has the most power? The side with the most options has the most power. If you can't reach a negotiated renewal of the lease, who has the best alternatives available to them? To determine this, you might take a sheet of paper and draw a line down the middle. On the left side, list your options in the event that you can't renew the lease. What alternative locations are available to you? Would they cost more or less? How much would it cost you to move the telephones and print new stationary? Would your customers be able to fi nd I n Puerto Prince, former President Carter, Colin Powell, and Senator Sam Nunn were in intense negotiations with Haiti's mili- tary commander, General Cedras. Then, President Clinton called to advise them that the invasion had begun and they had 30 minutes to get out of there. That was putting extreme time pres- sure on the nego- tiation, and people become pliable under time pressure. When do your children ask you for something? Just as you're hur- rying out of the door, right? When my daughter Julia was attending the University of Southern California, she resided in a sorority house and would some- times come home for the weekends and require money for books. When would she ask me? Seven o'clock on a Monday morning, just as she was running out the door she'd exclaim, "Dad, I'm sorry, I forgot; I need $60 for books." I'd reply, "Julia, don't do this to me. I teach this stuff. How come you've been home all weekend, and we didn't have a chance to discuss this before?" "Oh sorry, Dad, I just didn't think about it until I got ready to leave, but I'm late now, and I've got to get on the freeway, or I'll be late for class. If I can't buy my books today, I won't be able to get my assignment handed in on time. So please, can I have the money now, and we'll talk next weekend?" Children are not especially manipulative, but instinctively, over all those years of dealing with adults, they learn that under time pressure people become more fl exible. The prob- lem was that President Carter was putting time pressure on the wrong side. Power negotiators know that an interesting question is raised when both sides are closing in on the same time dead- line, as was the case in Haiti. Think of this in terms of you renewing your offi ce lease for example. Let's say that your fi ve-year lease ends in six months, and you must negotiate a for several months until he I n Puerto Prince, former President Carter, Colin Powell, and Senator Sam Nunn were in intense negotiations with Haiti's mili- tary commander, General Cedras. Then, President Clinton called to advise them that the invasion had begun and they had 30 minutes to get out of there. That was putting extreme time pres- sure on the nego- tiation, and people become pliable under time pressure. When do your children ask you for By Roger Dawson, the author of Secrets of Power Negotiating continued on page 42