One of Seinfeld TV-series character George Costanza’s most memorable endeavors was his attempt, in famous episode, “The Opposite,” to do the opposite of his every natural tendency. Lamenting his undeniable pattern of poor life choices and unsatisfying results, George’s pal Jerry urged him to change his hard-luck ways using this logic: “If every instinct you have is wrong, then the opposite would have to be right.”

A variant of George’s “do the opposite” approach can be a useful tool in negotiation and mediation settings, too. How? It can help you combat common cognitive biases that infect our sound analysis and thinking, and thus allow you to become a more effective negotiator.  

Considering the opposite of your negotiation position helps fight the common tendency to overvalue our own viewpoints and undervalue opposing views. Labels such as “confirmation bias” and the “ostrich effect,” among others, can be used to describe our predispositions to listen to only the information that confirms our positions and to disregard negative or conflicting information. As Thinking, Fast and Slow researchers Kahneman and Tversky have comprehensively described, we seek out and selectively interpret information in a manner that confirms our beliefs, and we proverbially stick our heads in the sand and pretend that potentially damaging information does not exist.

Effective negotiators thoroughly understand their best and worst alternatives to negotiated agreements. To reach that understanding they must be able to view their disputes objectively and appreciate both the positive and negative aspects of their bargaining positions. A “devil’s advocate” exercise – essentially, arguing the other side of your case – helps us move beyond a propensity to misjudge the relative weight of our side’s strengths and weaknesses.

Instead of allowing ourselves to dig in to our positions at the expense of considering other information and probabilities, and using George Costanza’s “do the opposite” as a guide, we can aim to view our dispute from perspectives other than our own. This enables us to empathize with our counterparts, giving us a better understanding of why they think and feel as they do, which is critical to effective dispute resolution.

If you are able to see the opposite side of your disagreement, negotiation, mediation, or other dispute, you will ultimately gain a more realistic, balanced assessment of your position. Such an assessment will help stave off overconfidence, a frequent byproduct of cognitive biases, that can leave you vulnerable to negotiating counter-attacks and -strategies.

In your next negotiation, take a cue from George Costanza. In appreciating the opposing side you will gain a useful tool to sharpen your arguments, anticipate and defuse counterarguments, and negotiate with greater success.

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