I had no formal education in the art of negotiation. What I know came from the trial and error of experience as an army officer, a practicing lawyer, a state and federal prosecutor, a federal judge, a U.S. senator, Senate majority leader, chairman of the peace talks in Northern Ireland, the special envoy for Middle East peace, and a mediator of private and public disputes. The earliest and most obvious lesson I learned is that no two negotiations are the same, whether a public conflict involving nation-states or a dispute over money between private companies or individuals; each is specific to the people and the circumstances involved. Each requires a particular resolution.
But if the facts are unique, the methods used to gain resolution are often strikingly similar. Over the past three decades I have been asked thousands of questions, none more often than “How do you negotiate?” It is definitely not a science or math. It is very much an art, requiring knowledge, skill, judgment, and humility. Especially humility.