You Can't Always Get What You Want

Round 2 of this game was a lot more intense. We changed partners and cards. This time  I had to be ruthless and get the most I could, that is the $2. I argued for the two dollars saying I needed to pay for a place to sleep that night. My partner also wanted the $2 but for no reason at all, except maybe the satisfaction of picking the bill off the ground and being able to say she found it. She was equally ruthless.  In the end, we compromised: I let her pick up the $2 off the ground in exchange for a place to sleep. So even though I didn’t physically get the $2 bill I got something in exchange for it.  When we are facing an opponent who needs the same thing we do and is as unwavering as we are, the negotiation may rapidly escalate. I felt the tension rising between us, and it made me furious that she had no argument whatsoever to support her claim for the $2, even though this was all a simulation.  Finally, she compromised by letting me stay at her place ...

Negotiation class is off to a great start!  We were asked to play the two-dollar bargaining game. The premise for this game is simple: two people find $2 on the ground and have to decide what do do with it. Should they split it in half, should one of them keep the $2, or should they share it some other way? To guide our negotiation we each get one little card with instructions: mine said I shouldn't settle for less than $1.60; my partner's said she should get at least $0.50 for her bus ticket, but I wasn't aware of this at first. She was very cunning and told me she needed the $2 to get home and her argument was quite persuasive: she lived one hour and a half away and it was very cold outside. Of course her argument was provided for her by the card.  I, on the other hand, had to come up with an argument of my own. In the heat of the discussion I told her that I only had $8 left on my bank account and needed the $2 extra to buy myself some dinner for the nig...