Most Desired Outcomes (MDOs) have long been a cornerstone of effective negotiation strategy. We’ve always known it to be that bold, assertive, yet defensible target that shapes your entire strategy and approach.
At Watershed Negotiations, our perspective on Most Desired Outcomes continues to evolve. Watershed has historically defined the MDO as being bold and assertive, but not aggressive. We have also insisted that an MDO should be defensible and achievable.
Well, times have changed and our views on MDOs have, as well.
The MDO itself should begin as an expansive, “dreamed-of” vision. Think of it as “Most Dreamed of Outcomes” rather than “Most Desired Outcomes.” We want you to unleash your creativity during the Prepare Stage. The aim is to define the MDO in its most ambitious form, and then strategically derive your opening offer, goal, and Least Acceptable Agreement (LAA) from this aspirational foundation.
Why Your MDO Needs to Start with a Dream
So, why this enhanced emphasis on an initial, expansive “dream phase” for your Most Desired Outcomes? The advantages are compelling and can significantly improve your results.
Powerful Self-Anchoring for a Stronger MDO
We often hear about the danger of being anchored by the other side’s first offer. However, an equally critical risk is anchoring yourself too low due to premature realism or self-doubt. By allowing your initial MDO to be a “dream list” that envisions everything you could possibly want to take away from the negotiation, you create a potent internal anchor at the highest possible point. This psychologically prepares you for greater ambition throughout the negotiation.
Combating Dangerous Self-Negotiation
Many negotiators engage in “self-defeating talk,” dismissing their own ambitious ideas with “they’ll never agree to that” before the other party even sees them. An initial, uncensored MDO phase acts as a sanctuary for these ideas. It delays your internal critic, allowing a richer, more diverse pool of potential outcomes to emerge before you apply your internal filters. This approach aligns with fostering an innovative negotiating culture where bold ideas are welcomed.
Unleashing Divergent Thinking
Effective strategy often blossoms from the interplay of divergent and convergent thinking. Divergent thinking, first discussed by psychologist J.P. Guilford in 1956, is a free-flowing, spontaneous, and non-linear thought process used to generate a multitude of creative ideas. Divergent thinking takes place while you’re building your MDO. This is where you cast a very wide net. The goal is to generate a multitude of ideas for your MDO without immediate judgment. Go crazy with your thinking; throw everything on the table. “I want the client to send my team to the Super Bowl next year on their corporate jet.” This expansive thinking is crucial for a truly ambitious MDO.
Creating a Rich “Menu of Value”
Your initial, expansive MDO, complete with must-haves, nice-to-haves, and wild ideas, becomes a private inventory of potential value and negotiables. When you encounter an impasse later in the negotiation, this list can spark creative trade-offs that address uncovered interests on both sides. This reflects principles of integrative negotiation, where exploring multiple issues helps expand the overall value.
From MDO to Opening Offers: The Convergent Path
After the broad exploration of the divergent phase, convergent thinking brings analytical rigor. This is where you critically evaluate your MDO and curate it into a defensible opening offer based upon:
- Benchmarks and test assumptions (a key step we always emphasize at the Watershed Associates Learning Center).
- Understanding your and their interests more deeply.
- Assessing your Best Alternative To a Negotiated Agreement (BATNA) with clarity.
From this analysis, you then craft a strategic opening offer that reflects your ambitious MDO, and define a well-anchored Goal and LAA.
The Evolved MDO in Action: A Practical Guide
How does this refined approach to your MDO look in practice?
Define Your Expansive MDO (the “Most Dreamed of Outcome”)
Start by privately brainstorming everything you could conceivably desire from the deal. No idea is too audacious at this initial stage. Let your creativity flow. The Super Bowl is fair game!
Analyze Your MDO and the Landscape
Now, critically evaluate your dream list. Conduct thorough research, test your assumptions, and gain a clear understanding of all parties’ interests. Assess your BATNA realistically. This stage is about grounding your ambition with facts, as suggested by experts in successful negotiation preparation.
Craft Your Opening Offer, Goal, and LAA
With a well-defined and analyzed expansive MDO, you can now formulate a powerful opening offer. This opening is ambitious because it’s rooted in your MDO, but it’s also strategically sound, defensible, and achievable. Your Goal and LAA will also be anchored more ambitiously due to this process.
The Advantage: Creative MDO Planning Beats High-Pressure Improvisation
Let’s be realistic. Are you really going to ask your client for the corporate jet and Super Bowl tickets? Almost certainly not! So why include something like that in your Most Desired Outcomes? It’s aggressive, it’s not defensible, and it’s probably not achievable. Well, it’s all about the word “probably.” When you’re drawing up your plan, it probably is a silly (and potentially offensive) position to take, which is exactly why you won’t include it in your opening offer. But, six months into the negotiation, when negotiators have changed, circumstances have completely changed, and you hit an impasse, the other side may make an off-hand comment that may, in fact, make that ‘silly position’ look like a stroke of genius. “Well, Randy, it’s funny you mention that. You’re not going to believe this, but six months ago I had this dumb idea that may not be so dumb after all…”
A core principle for negotiation success is that your most creative work is best done during the lower-pressure Prepare Stage. Attempting to invent brilliant solutions when you’re under stress at the bargaining table under the bright lights is generally less effective.
By giving yourself permission to come up with crazy ideas and include them on your MDO, you’re reducing the pressure you’ll feel when things get intense later in the negotiation. Decision fatigue is real and limits your creative thinking. By generating creative ideas and including them in your MDO before the live negotiation, you’re setting the stage to look like a genius when those crazy ideas all of a sudden aren’t so crazy. Let me be clear: 90% of the most creative ideas in your MDO will never see the light of day, and that’s just fine. Simply thinking of them will make you a better and more effective negotiator.
Conclusion: Rethink Your MDO, Transform Your Negotiations
Allowing your MDO to start as an expansive “dream,” then analyzing it and curating it to inform your open offer, goal, and LAA, sets the stage for superior results. This encourages you to be more ambitious in private so you can be more assertive, creative, and effective in public. This proactive creativity can lead to more robust plans and, ultimately, better deals, turning standard negotiations into opportunities for significant value creation and even remarkable successes.
For more insights and resources on effective negotiation, visit us at Watershed Associates. Consider using goal-setting frameworks to spark this expansive thinking and explore how creative problem-solving can enhance your negotiation strategies.