Never Split the Difference: Negotiating as if Your Life Depended on It

USING “THAT’S RIGHT” FOR CAREER SUCCESS
One of my Korean students got to “that’s right” in
negotiating with his ex-boss for a new job.
Returning to Seoul after getting his MBA, he wanted to
work in his company’s consumer electronics division, rather
than the semiconductor section, where he had been
stationed. He was a human resources specialist. Under the

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company’s rules, he believed he had to remain in his
previous department, unless he could also get approval from
his ex-boss. He had gotten two job offers from the consumer
products division. He phoned his ex-boss from the United
States.
“You should reject this offer and find your spot here
with the semiconductor division,” the ex-boss said.
My student hung up depressed. If he wanted to advance
in the company, he had to obey his former superior. He
rejected the two offers and prepared to return to the
semiconductor side.
Then he contacted a friend who was a senior manager in
the human resources department to check on the company’s
regulations. He found there was no rule that he had to stay
within his division, but he did need his ex-boss’s blessing to
switch.
He phoned his ex-boss again. This time he asked
questions to draw him out.
“Is there any reason you want me to go to the
semiconductor headquarters?” he asked.
“It’s the best position for you,” the ex-boss said.
“The best position?” he asked. “It sounds like there’s no
regulation that I have to remain with the semiconductor
division,” he said. “Hmm,” the ex-boss said. “I don’t think
there is any.”
“Then will you please tell me what made you decide that
I remain in the semiconductor headquarters?” he asked.
The ex-boss said he needed someone to help him

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network at headquarters between the semiconductor and
consumer products divisions.
“So it sounds like you could approve my new position
no matter which division, as long as I was in headquarters
and could help you communicate better with the top
managers.”
“That’s right,” he said. “I must admit I need your help in
headquarters.”
My student realized he had made a breakthrough. Not
only had his ex-boss uttered those sweet words—“that’s
right”—but he had revealed his true motive: he needed an
ally in headquarters.
“Is there any other help you need?” he asked.
“Let me tell you everything,” the ex-boss responded.
It turns out his former superior would be up for a
promotion to vice president in two years. He desperately
wanted to move up into this job. He needed someone in
headquarters to lobby the company CEO.
“I would help you in any way,” my student said. “But I
could help with the networking and also talk you up to the
CEO even if I were at headquarters with the consumer
products division, right?”
“That’s right,” he said. “If you get an offer from the
consumer products unit, I will approve it.”
Bingo! By asking questions that got him to “that’s right,”
my student had achieved his goal. He also got his boss to
reveal two “Black Swans,” the unspoken, underlying
breakthrough dynamics of a negotiation (explored in more

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detail in Chapter 10):
■
His boss needed someone to help him network
and communicate in headquarters.
■
His boss would be up for a promotion and
needed someone to talk him up to the CEO.
My student was able to win the job he desired on the
consumer electronics division. And he’s been talking up his
former boss.
“I was stunned,” he wrote me in an email. “In this
culture it is not really possible to know what a superior is
thinking.”
I have many opportunities to travel the country and speak to
business leaders, either in formal speaking engagements or
private counseling sessions. I entertain them with war
stories, then I describe some basic negotiating skills. I
always impart a few techniques. Getting to “that’s right” is a
staple.
After a speech in Los Angeles, one of the attendees,
Emily, sent me an email:
Hi Chris, I feel compelled to tell you that I just tried
the “That’s right” technique in a price negotiation
with a potential new client. And, I got what I wanted.
I’m so excited!
Before I probably would have just gone with the

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“in-the-middle” suggested price (halfway between
my initial offer and her initial counter). Instead, I
believe I correctly assessed her motivations,
presented her with the right statement to get to a
“that’s right” (in her mind) . . . and then she
proposed the solution I wanted and asked if I would
agree to it! So, I did of course.
Thank you!
Emily
And I thought to myself: That’s right.