When I heard the reports last week of senators, meeting in a bipartisan effort to open the government, using a talking stick, my first thought was ‘that’s cute’. My second response was a sense of disquiet, which I didn’t know to pin down. It has nothing to do with the method itself – I’ve used talking objects myself; in fact, I’ve used them in working…

We all negotiate via text messaging.

Perhaps, for some, this only occurs on the fringes of negotiation: a request to move the venue of a meeting, or to correct a typo on a contract. Others may recognize that they have negotiated the sale of a car or a house, elements of a job offer, or even professional negotiations through this medium. Certainly, many of the family-and-friends -related interactions that texts on negotiations use as examples are now conducted via text.  

One…