d to do the opposite. Our job is to build a golden bridge across the chasm. Building a golden bridge means making it easier for our opponent to overcome the four common obstacles to agreement: it means actively involving him in devising a solution so that it becomes his idea, not just ours; it means satisfying his unmet interests; it means helping him save face; it means making the process of negotiation as easy as possible.(5) STEP FIVE: Make It Hard To Say No Bring Them To Their Senses, Not Their KneesOnce our opponent still resists and thinks he can win without negotiation, our natural temptation is to abandon the problem-solving game and turn it to the power game. However, unless we have a decisive power advantage, the opponent usually resist and fight back. Even if we win the battle, we may lose the war. In the process we may destroy our relation with our opponent. And he will often find a way to renege or retaliate the next time he is in a better power position.Overcoming the power paradox means making it easier for our opponent to say yes at the same time that we make it harder for him to say no. We should treat the exercise of power as an integral part of the problem-solving negotiation. Instead of seeking victory, we should aim for mutual satisfaction.We should use power to "educate" our opponent. We need to convince him that he is wrong. We could ask him reality-testing questions designed to get him to think through the impact of not reaching agreement. Than the next step is to use a direct statement of what will happen-a warning. However, we need to be careful not to threaten the opponent. If our opponent ignores our warning, we will need to take the next step: demonstrate our BATNA. Use it only if necessary and minimize his resistance by exercising restraint and reassuring him that our goal is mutual satisfaction, not victory. We need to remind our opponent continually that the golden bridge is always open to him. (6)When ...
