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The Monkey is one of the vivid images we use in our training to make a key concept memorable. This image in particular has become a totem for our firm: a toy monkey attends every course, and the BBC made a documentary about us titledĀ The Monkey Man.
A āmonkey on your backā is a problem you have ā in negotiation terms, that makes you want a deal even on bad terms. E.g. youāre under time pressure / you donāt have any other offers / you think the quality of the other offers is poor.
Monkeys lead most negotiators to underestimate their own relative power and so negotiate too āchickenā. And there is a structural reason for this error. ā When you look at yourĀ ownĀ situation you are only too aware of your own monkeys. But the other party may not be aware of these factors.ā¢ At the same time,Ā the other guyĀ has problems too ā and he isnāt going to tell you about the monkeys onĀ hisĀ back as this would only weaken his position. ā¢ So you have a distorted view of the power balance. Itās distorted because you have taken account of all your monkeys, but have not allowed for the monkeys he almost certainly has on his back ā because you donāt know about those. And the distortion is always in the same direction: it always leads you to underestimate your own power.
