Excerpt from How would Socrates have negotiated? (The Negotiation Guru)
The problem with many negotiators is that they do not direct their questions towards a certain purpose. The art of questioning has to be strategic. To be truly prepared, you need to put some thoughts and time into the type of questions you direct to the other party. Work out the questions with a strategic plan in mind.
Excerpt from Our Profession Has Stopped Thinking: How Else Could We Have Departed from Sound Economic Principles? (inside the firm of the future)
Have you ever wondered how the legal profession, which is trained to ask questions and be skeptical, has not asked why they bill by the hour let alone why we continue to do so? Have you ever wondered how most senior attorneys could have practiced law a lifetime and not realize that the practice of billing by the hour was a recent accident and product of the 195O's and cost accounting methods. Have you ever wondered by old lawyers bicker and banter about how fixed-pricing would not work when in fact it not only works in the legal industry in most other countries, but it also has worked for centuries before the 195Os when WE were a fixed-price profession? Have you ever wondered why . . .