Member-only story
Negotiate like a Child, Not a Boss
You can learn valuable persuasion tactics from kids.
Originally appeared on Ell Business
My ten-year-old nephew is a master negotiator. The last time I was home, he asked me to play catch with him outside with his new football. I was having a cup of coffee with my sister at the time and told him I would do it later.
“You always say later but you never do. Right, mom?” he spoke quite plainly and without a hint of a whine.
When he turned to my sister, she laughed and stammered her reply.
“Ha! Uh, hey there, buddy, don’t get me involved in this!”
I stepped in to smooth things over.
“I guess I have done that a lot. Sorry, little man. Okay, come find me later and I promise we will.”
“How much later?”
“How about thirty minutes?”
“Thirty minutes is too long. Fifteen.”
He still wasn’t whining, simply making his case.
“Okay, how about twenty?”
“Twenty? Okay. I will see you in exactly twenty minutes, Uncle Brian.”
Twenty minutes later I was playing catch with my nephew with his new football.
