Why Avoiding Conflict Costs You More

Negotiate Anything

American Negotiation Institute

Self-improvement, Education, Business

4.7 • 748 Ratings

🗓️ 22 February 2026

⏱️ 75 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

What if the biggest deals you’re negotiating aren’t across the table—but inside your own mind? In this powerful Negotiation Masterclass edition of Negotiate Anything, you’ll hear three world-class experts tackle one shared truth from completely different angles: success in business — and life — comes down to mastering difficult conversations. First, behavioral economist Melina Palmer reveals the hidden brain biases silently sabotaging your goals — optimism bias, planning fallacy, bike shedding, and the “I’ll start Monday” effect. You’ll learn how to outsmart your own psychology, negotiate with your future self, and finally follow through on what matters most . Next, startup CEO Naved Iqbal, PhD, dives into one of the hardest conversations a founder can face: telling a co-founder their equity needs to be reduced. Through raw storytelling, he breaks down how conviction, fairness, and radical transparency can preserve trust — even when the stakes are high and the outcome uncertain . From negotiating with vendors as a David facing Goliath to aligning with your spouse before taking entrepreneurial risks, you’ll discover how clarity and honesty become your greatest leverage. Finally, negotiation specialist Nicole Davidson pulls back the curtain on what really happens in mediation. She explains why the key to unlocking deadlocked disputes isn’t having better arguments — it’s asking better questions. You’ll explore cognitive biases, subconscious decision-making, and the power of stepping onto the “balcony” to see your negotiations more clearly . This isn’t theory. It’s practical wisdom from experts who’ve lived the tension, faced the fear, and navigated the toughest conversations of their careers. If you’re ready to: Stop procrastinating on your biggest goals Handle high-stakes conversations with integrity Build stronger partnerships at work and at home Make better decisions by understanding how your brain really works Then this masterclass is for you. Negotiate Anything: Take your personal data back with Incogni! Use code ANYTHING at the link below and get 60% off an annual plan: ⁠⁠https://incogni.com/anything⁠ incogni.com ⁠⁠⁠⁠Personal Information Removal Service | Incogni | Incogni⁠⁠⁠⁠ Data brokers are collecting, aggregating and trading your personal data without you knowing anything about it. We make them remove it.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to this negotiation masterclass edition of Negotiate Anything.
0:04.1	With over 1,600 episodes featuring some of the world's brightest minds, we've carefully curated three powerful conversations for you.
0:12.1	What makes this so special is that you'll hear how different experts from different industries approach the same challenge in their own unique ways.
0:20.4	Our goal is to give you multiple perspectives so you can build their own unique ways. Our goal is to give you multiple perspectives
0:22.5	so you can build your own unique style. Success doesn't look the same for everyone. And in this
0:27.8	masterclass, you will see exactly why. Let's dive in. Malina, welcome back, my friend. Oh, thank you.
0:35.6	I'm always very excited. I'm always excited to talk to you
0:38.7	and definitely always excited to be on the show. So thanks for having me. Likewise, the feelings are
0:43.0	mutual. And listeners, I want you to know how much of a treat this is because like the last
0:47.6	couple times, Malina and I tried to record an episode. We just chatted as buddies. And then we're like,
0:53.1	wow, it's been an hour and a half,
0:54.7	maybe next time. So we're going to get it done this time. And so for the listeners who haven't
1:02.0	seen your previous episodes, can you tell them about yourself and what you do? Absolutely. So my
1:08.1	name is Melina Palmer. And I am an applied behavioral economist. And so that is understanding the psychology of why people act, choose change and buy. And what I do is help people to understand how the brain really works instead of how we think that it should. and then how to better communicate with the brain,
1:28.8	whether it's your own brain or it's helping to get employees to buy in or customers to buy.
1:34.2	And that's what I do with businesses.
1:36.4	This is great.
1:37.8	And by chance, do you have a book and a podcast?
1:41.4	I have two books and a podcast. Yeah, thanks. So, yeah, so my podcast is called
1:49.0	the brainy business and talks about all these things here that I was just saying. My first book
1:55.3	is called what your customer wants and can't tell you. And the second is what your employees need
2:00.6	and can't tell you. And that second is what your employees need and can't tell you.
	...

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