Negotiation

Kwame ChristianCEO of the American Negotiation Institute, lawyer, author, and host of the Negotiate Anything podcast

• Christian frames negotiation as the art of deal discovery rather than deal making.

  “I don't look at negotiation as the art of deal making. I think about it as the art of deal discovery”

  Mick Unplugged: Why Not Swing Big: Unlocking Your Undeniable Potential with Kwame Christian (Jul 16, 2026) · Listen from 27:34

• Christian says pushing people harder produces more resistance, so he aims for others to feel they changed their own minds.

  “And so the thing is, the harder we push, the harder they push back”

  Mick Unplugged: Why Not Swing Big: Unlocking Your Undeniable Potential with Kwame Christian (Jul 16, 2026) · Listen from 24:07

• Christian recommends replacing "why" with "what" or "how" questions to gather the same information while preserving psychological safety.

  “So a simple tweak is shifting from why to what or how. So instead of why did you do it that way”

  Mick Unplugged: Why Not Swing Big: Unlocking Your Undeniable Potential with Kwame Christian (Jul 16, 2026) · Listen from 9:50

• Christian argues that "why" questions are associated with judgment and criticism and provoke defensiveness in emotionally heated conversations.

  “And so the word why is often associated with judgment, with criticism”

  Mick Unplugged: Why Not Swing Big: Unlocking Your Undeniable Potential with Kwame Christian (Jul 16, 2026) · Listen from 10:53