Most negotiators set targets based on their own needs instead of the other side’s limits.

Your target should be an educated estimate of the other party’s reservation point.

Use the S-O-S framework to triangulate their “worst possible deal” and anchor strategically.

In our work, whether we’re teaching MBA students at the Knauss School of Business or training senior executives through The Barkacs Group, we often pose a deceptively simple question: “You’re heading into a high-stakes negotiation tomorrow. What’s your target?”

The answers are almost always inward‑facing:

“I want a 10% raise.”

“I just need something realistic so I don’t blow the deal.”

These responses share a hidden flaw: they’re all about the negotiator. This is the egocentric bias at work, i.e., our tendency to anchor on our own needs, costs, and fears. It’s neurologically easier to focus on our own “floor” than to imagine the other party’s "ceiling.”

But negotiation mastery requires the opposite. You have to stop looking in the mirror and start looking through a magnifying glass.

The Beggar vs. the Detective

To understand why internal targets fail, consider two mindsets.

The Beggar enters the negotiation focused on scarcity: rent to pay, budgets to meet, approvals to secure. They ask for what they need to survive. If the........

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