John Hodgman on Negotiation

John Hodgman, a contributor to NPR's "This American Life," has written a book entitled The Areas of My Expertise.  Mr. Hodgman claims the book is the successor to works like Poor Richard's Almanack, but the big differences are that (1) nothing in the book appears to be true and (2) Mr. Hodgman's areas of expertise include werewolves, hoboes (including a list of 700 potential hobo names), and "History's Worst Men's Haircuts."  One of my favorite sections of the book includes Mr. Hodgman's "Five Secrets of Successful Negotiation" -- number 4 is a keeper:

A bestselling author on the subject of "negotiation" reminds: "Negotiation requires compromise.  Each party must gain something, and each must give something up.  Before you begin your negotiation, privately consider what you are willing to give away.  Now gather all of that material together and put it in a sack.  Hide the sack in a secure location, such as a cave that is laced with explosives that you can detonate by remote control.  Take the remote control in with you to the negotiation.  As any experience negotiator knows, in order to succeed, you must be willing to walk away from the deal at any moment, and then blow up the cave.  Note: The sack should be made of velvet."