3 Lessons from Japan

3 Lessons from Japan

Notes on Negotiation Written by Marty Latz, Latz Negotiation Institute

We just returned from a family trip to Japan, and I couldn’t help but consider some of the culturally different negotiation approaches – and the lessons we can learn from them.

Here are three. Of course, these are broad and general tendencies. And exceptions abound, especially on an individual level.

1. Outward respect in personal interactions.

I was amazed at how folks often lined up single file on the platforms at the edges of the train doors to let passengers out first. Everyone then respectfully walked onto the train. No pushing or shoving. Most even switched their backpacks from back to front so – if they turned – they wouldn’t inadvertently hit another passenger with it. I can’t imagine this occurring in any large U.S. city.

This level of outward respect toward others – in negotiations and in other contexts – goes a long way toward fostering an environment in which parties can share critically important information and interests. Doing so can empower parties to achieve better outcomes.

Lack of outward respect and professionalism toward a negotiation counterpart – frequently generated by those with an automatically adversarial win-lose approach – will often be highly counterproductive and prevent optimal solutions.

“Hold on,” you might respond. “Many Japanese are extremely aggressive negotiators. The respect there is surface-only. Isn’t this inconsistent?”

No. You can be incredibly aggressive in your strategies and tactics, and yet still be highly respectful and professional with your negotiation style.

Interestingly, Tokyo is the largest metropolitan area in the world but has the lowest crime rate of any large city. This respect for others and low levels of social friction play a large part in this (along with extremely strict gun control).

2. Real value of negotiated agreements between nations versus its alternative/Plan B – war.

We visited the Hiroshima Peace Museum while there and saw firsthand the unbelievably devastating short- and long-term human and societal impact of the world’s first wartime use of a nuclear weapon. This drove home the true destruction and costs of war, especially the use of nuclear weapons, as an alternative to a negotiated agreement between nations.

War should always be a last resort if you can’t achieve your crucial objectives through negotiation.

Of course, I’m not suggesting nations stop developing strong militaries and weapons. In fact, doing so can be a very effective way to create negotiation leverage and prevent military conflict. Russia would never have invaded Ukraine had Ukraine and/or its allies deployed effective defensive weapons and troops on its front-line.

I’m also not suggesting that war is never appropriate or even that nuclear weapons should never be developed. The doctrine of mutual assured destruction (MAD) between the Soviet Union and the U.S. kept the peace during the cold war for years.

I also visited the Dachau concentration camp years ago where over 30,000 Jews were murdered, some of them gassed. The Allied defense of civil society in World War II was entirely justified. Good faith negotiations should be the first step, though, not the last.

3. The increasing role of technology in negotiations.

We got around Japan easily even though around 80 percent of the Japanese don’t speak English well or at all. How? Google Maps and Translate. My wife also extensively used AI to plan our trip, and we all used it to efficiently get independent evaluations of standards involved in our negotiations. Technology radically changed our experience as well as our negotiations while there, with cab/Uber drivers, storekeepers, street vendors, Airbnb hosts, etc.

Latz's Lesson: Respect. War. And technology. All play important roles in negotiations.

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Marty Latz is the founder of Latz Negotiation Institute, a national negotiation training and consulting company, and ExpertNegotiator, a Web-based software company that helps managers and negotiators more effectively negotiate and implement best practices based on the experts' proven research.  He is also the author of Gain the Edge! Negotiating to Get What You Want (St. Martin’s Press 2004). He can be reached at 480-951-3222 or Latz@ExpertNegotiator.com

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