At this very minute, leaders from the House and Senate are said to be huddling with the president for “last-ditch” talks. Will they finally reach an agreement to avoid the looming fiscal cliff? Ed Brodow, negotiation expert and member of The Speakers Group, says there’s only one way it will happen:
“The only way this will happen is if they both sit down and say, we agree on the objective, which is to avoid the fiscal cliff. To do that, we can make concessions, so let’s brainstorm ideas to do that.”
Ed is not so optimistic that they’ll be able to do it, though, saying bluntly, “I think we have incompetent politicians, frankly. It doesn’t take a genius to look at the newspaper and say: ‘these people are not functioning.’ They’re not doing their job.”
Read all of Ed’s comments on The Guardian’s Fiscal Cliff Blog, and if you’re facing some tough negotiations in your organization, perhaps it’s time for Ed’s Negotiation Boot Camp.
