Noa Sheer Interviews Moty Cristal
Noa Sheer interviews fellow negotiation specialist Moty Cristal to unpack the dynamics, nuances and similarities between business and political negotiations. They emphasise the importance of understanding the specific context and complexities of each negotiation, and highlight how the same core set of negotiation skills might be adapted across both, depending on the scenario.
With Moty's vast experience in diplomatic negotiations and his expertise in systems thinking, we explore what tactics or techniques that are prevalent in political negotiations, we can borrow and use in business negotiations such as contract agreements, sales, partnership agreements, mergers and acquisitions.
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Key themes
The key themes identified are stakeholder mapping - the negotiators vs the decision makers. The quantification of deals - what’s really at stake, and the differences between quantifiable business negotiations and the more intangible aspects of political negotiations. The conversation touches on the impact of media narratives and behind-the-scenes activity, illustrating how preparation extends beyond just the content of negotiation.
Highlights
0:06 - Introduction of Moty Cristal, an expert in complex negotiations and crisis management.
0:41 - Moty discusses the misconception that negotiation is a uniform concept across contexts, advocating for a tailored approach.
2:30 - The importance of stakeholder mapping is highlighted, stressing the need to identify real decision-makers beyond just the visible negotiator.
4:23 - Moty contrasts business and political negotiations, emphasising the difficulty of quantifying political deals due to intangible factors like national pride.
7:02 - The discussion shifts to Donald Trump's negotiation style, illustrating the unique mix of political and business tactics in his approach.
9:38 - Focus on the pre-negotiation stage, emphasising the role of narrative creation and strategic positioning.
15:12 - Reflection on media influence and public perception in diplomatic negotiations versus business negotiations.
19:13 - Moty explains the challenges of "behind the table" negotiations, which often involve internal dynamics that are less visible.
21:06 - Discussion on power asymmetry in negotiations and strategies for weaker parties to rebalance power dynamics.
22:00 - Moty shares his framework for analysing power structures in negotiations.
About Moty Cristal, LLB, MPA
Moty Cristal is a Professional Negotiator, with a unique focus on complex negotiations
From 1994 to 2001, Mr Cristal served in various official capacities in Israeli negotiation teams with Jordan and Palestine, experiencing seven years of intense negotiations.
Since 2001, Mr Cristal advises, consults and trains business people, entrepreneurs, CEOs and senior government officials in Europe, Russia, US and Asia in analysing, planning and designing complex negotiation processes. He has been working intensively in the energy, construction, financial, technological, pharmaceutical, industrial, transportation and aeronautical sectors. His roles vary across deal-making negotiations, including start-ups investment and marketing processes, cross-cultural business disputes, union-management conflicts, post-merger integration, to business and national crisis management.
Mr Cristal is a Lt. Colonel (R.) in the IDF, with extensive operational experience in crisis negotiation, and lectures worldwide on crisis negotiation and complex crisis management.
He is a faculty member at SKOLKOVO, Moscow's leading Business School, as well as a lecturer at the Executive MBA at Recanati, Tel Aviv University and the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzelia. Mr Cristal is a visiting scholar in leading international negotiation institutions, including Programme in International Negotiation (PIN) at IIASA, Austria (2001-2008), Programme in Negotiation at Harvard Law School (2007) and the IDSS in Singapore (2004).
Mr Cristal commentates regularly on the Israeli and international media, international conferences and academic publications, negotiation processes and crisis interventions.
Graduated Bar-Ilan Law School in Israel (1994), and Harvard Kennedy School of Government (1998), Mr Cristal is also a doctoral researcher at the London School of Economics.