Turn Positions Into Interests

Positions are loud; interests explain the fight. Principled negotiation teaches you to separate people from the problem, look underneath positions for interests, invent options for mutual gain, and use fair criteria. In team conflict, the position is the thing people repeat: 'We need QA signoff before merge' or 'We need speed.' The interest is the underlying need: reliability, customer promise, predictability, autonomy, or workload protection. The mechanism works because interests multiply the solution space. Two positions often collide, but two interests can usually be sequenced, bundled, tested, or protected with a guardrail. The manager's job is not to decide which…

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