Group Negotiation Secrets: How to Lead Without Losing Control

Negotiate Anything

American Negotiation Institute

Education, Careers, Business

4.8 • 659 Ratings

🗓️ 28 August 2025

⏱️ 64 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this episode, Kwame Christian sits down with Colin M. Fisher, author of The Collective Edge: Unlocking the Secret Power of Groups, to explore the hidden psychology of group dynamics. From the dinner table to the boardroom, every group is a negotiation — balancing individual goals with collective success. You’ll learn: Why adding more brains to a meeting often creates more problems. The “Goldilocks rule” for group size (and why 4–5 people may be perfect). How psychological safety transforms conflict into collaboration. Practical strategies to prevent disengagement and get real buy-in. How family conflicts mirror team conflicts at work — and how to resolve both. Whether you’re leading a team, joining a new group, or navigating tricky family dynamics, this conversation will help you see groups in a whole new way. Connect with Colin M. Fisher colinmfisher.com Buy now: The Collective Edge - Unlocking the Secret Power of Groups Contact ANI ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Request A Customized Workshop For Your Company⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Follow Kwame Christian on LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠negotiateanything.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Click here to buy your copy of Finding Confidence in Conflict: How to Negotiate Anything and Live Your Best Life!⁠ Discount code "KWAME" gives 30% discount over 3 months TL;DR what is folk? folk is a CRM, and extension, that helps businesses build real relationships and close deals. Why is folk better? folk is simple, integrated, and proactive to use. folk’s value proposition? folk CRM does the busy work for you, so you can focus on growing your service business. folk’s tagline folk, like the sales assistant your team never had What product details will most excite your audience? • ⁠⁠Our seamless integrations with social channels⁠⁠ • ⁠⁠Our 1-click Enrichment that finds contact details for y⁠⁠ ⁠⁠ou⁠⁠ • ⁠⁠Know the best leads to reach out to with AI Follow-up⁠⁠ ⁠⁠s⁠⁠ Useful links & resources •⁠⁠ folk's website⁠⁠ •⁠⁠ folk's Linkedin⁠⁠ • ⁠⁠Simo, our CEO’s, LinkedIn⁠⁠ • ⁠⁠folk's Youtube⁠⁠

Transcript

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0:00.0	If you've ever walked into a meeting and felt like people are talking past each other,
0:04.0	or worse, not really talking at all, you are not alone. We spend most of our lives in groups,
0:10.7	at work, at home, in our communities, but we rarely stop to think about how these groups actually
0:17.2	function or why they sometimes break down. My guest is Dr. Colin Fisher, a professor
0:22.5	at University College London who studies how teams really work, especially under pressure. He's also
0:28.6	a former jazz musician, and in this conversation, we talk about his new book, The Collective Edge,
0:34.2	unlocking the secret power of groups, which unpacks the hidden dynamics that make or break group performance.
0:41.2	I learned so much in this episode, and I believe you will too.
0:45.2	So without further ado, let's jump into the interview.
0:49.8	Let's get into this because this is great, because not only are you an expert in group dynamics,
0:54.6	we've seen that throughout your career and with this new book, which is incredibly exciting,
0:58.8	but now you also have negotiation expertise.
1:01.9	So when you think about the distinction between negotiation and the challenges of persuasion in a group,
1:09.6	what would you say are the biggest differences?
1:13.5	So I'm going to turn that around and actually talk about the similarities first.
1:18.2	Cool.
1:18.6	Let's do it.
1:19.1	Yeah.
1:19.4	Yeah.
1:20.1	Because, you know, to me, what we would think of is teamwork and negotiation are just kind of, you know, two ends of, or two sides of a coin in a way.
1:33.3	So we have, on the one hand, there's stuff when you're in any group, whether it's in a negotiation setting or in a setting that's a work team, you've got stuff that we all have in
1:47.0	common, that we have interests that we share, we have goals that we share, and we've got stuff
	...

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