Why BATNA Might Be Your Biggest Negotiation Mistake - with Derrick (The Van Gogh of Negotiation) Chevalier (Part II)

Negotiate Anything

American Negotiation Institute

Education, Careers, Business

4.8 • 659 Ratings

🗓️ 25 April 2025

⏱️ 30 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Order NOW The Book: EVOLVE or Be Slaughtered: Negotiation For The 21st Century (Beyond Negotiating) by Derrick (The Van Gogh of Negotiation) Chevalier What if the rule we’ve all been taught — “never negotiate without a BATNA” — is the very thing limiting your success? In this mind-expanding conversation, Kwame Christian sits down with Derrick Chevalier, negotiation strategist and author of Evolve or Be Slaughtered, to expose the hidden danger of over-relying on your BATNA. Together, they explore why the best deals are rarely the ones you plan for, how to embrace creative discovery at the table, and what great negotiators actually do when things don’t go according to script. Whether you're a seasoned dealmaker or just learning the ropes, this episode will challenge everything you thought you knew about leverage, planning, and negotiation itself. Connect with Derrick https://h-c.com/ Follow Derrick on LinkedIn Contact ANI Request A Customized Workshop For Your Company Follow Kwame Christian on LinkedIn The Ultimate Negotiation Guide Click here to buy your copy of How To Have Difficult Conversations About Race! Click here to buy your copy of Finding Confidence in Conflict: How to Negotiate Anything and Live Your Best Life!

Transcript

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0:41.9	We've all been taught never go into a negotiation without your batna, your best alternative to a negotiated agreement.
0:48.6	But what if your battena is actually the very thing stopping you from reaching your best deal?
0:54.1	In this episode, Derek Chevalier doesn't just challenge the rule.
0:58.1	He explains why it's a trap and what to do instead if you want to unlock real creativity at the table.
1:05.8	My contention is that if an outcome is what you expected it to be before you went into the negotiation,
1:14.7	it's generally a sign that you left a lot on the table and that you did not evolve or
1:22.6	create what we call the highest and best outcome. How could you possibly have known what was possible in that
1:30.8	negotiation before you walked into the room? And that's one of the dangers we talk about when you look at
1:36.9	something like a baton. Yeah, having a best alternative to a negotiated agreement is a great idea,
1:43.6	but it's also a prison. Because if you go,
1:46.6	you came up with that bat anna. So at the end of the day, the batonet teaches you to negotiate
1:53.5	with yourself. The outcome you started with, you came up with it. They had a bat ana you had a bat an and then when you
2:02.9	don't get there you go oh okay we drop back to my batina no no no no no and evolved negotiator
2:10.1	understands that a bat an bat an place we're having but we're walking into the room to find out what
2:16.6	we don't know not to negotiate ourselves back into a place we're having into the room to find out what we don't know, not to negotiate ourselves
2:20.0	back into a place we decided to go to before we walked into the room. So if the outcome is equal
2:27.6	to what our expectation, it means that the outcome is not comprised of a significant amount of elements that we didn't
	...

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